Found and Lost
by EggsandLambs
Summary: Before the manga begins, the students have to get through their final year at Konoha's ninja academy. This story focuses on Sasuke as he struggles with solitude and how to handle a friendship when he accidentally finds himself enjoying someone's company.
1. Chapter 1

Another year at the Konoha shinobi academy. But, Sasuke noted with great relief, this would be his _last_ year at the academy. He would be graduating and moving on to real missions with a real jounin sensei. He couldn't wait to get out of the academy. It was just full of amateurs that held him back and constantly made class boring for him. He sighed as he trudged into the familiar classroom and took a seat. He saw a lot of faces he didn't recognize, then remembered that this year his class was combining with another class from the academy that had previously been on a different time schedule. Sasuke studied each of the new kids, sizing them up.

Suddenly the teacher came in, and the classroom quieted down. Glancing from side to side, Sasuke made a mental note not to sit in the middle of a table again. This class had too many of _those_ girls and now he was surrounded. The worst position a ninja could be in, and he had let himself fall right into it. He let out a slow sigh and rested his cheek on his hand. It was going to be a long year…

_Lunchtime._

Shouldering his book bag, Sasuke opened the bathroom window and hopped onto the sill. It was so annoying to have to sneak out to eat like this, switching secret lunch spots every time one was found. But then he thought back to the times when he would just walk outside in plain view. It wasn't hard for the female ninjas to follow him and bother him all through lunch. All this sneaking around was worth it, and he was confident that he would be able to do as well in keeping his eating location a secret this year as he had the last.

He checked outside to make sure no one was watching, then sprang from the windowsill onto the roof. Moving speedily from obstacle to obstacle, he made his way to a cluster of buildings. One average-looking, unassuming building was a house kept for traveling ninja who visited the academy. No one ever used it, though. Most ninja that traveled through Konoha weren't there specifically for the academy, and so they opted to stay closer to town at an inn or such. This house had an attic, accessible from outside only by a vent that had to be removed. Sasuke hung from the roof and unhinged the vent speedily, as he had done so many times before, and swung down inside, pulling it closed behind him.

Suddenly, he found himself being twisted into an arm lock. Normally he would've been able to slip out before the move was finished, but his guard had been down and he was taken completely by surprise. Coming to his senses, he made a backwards sweep with his leg, and his attacker avoided it just in the way he had predicted. Shoving backwards forcefully, he pushed the captor off balance and they both fell. Once the hold was loosened, mid-fall, Sasuke rolled to the side and landed with his kunai pointed at the stranger's neck. He finally got a look at…her.

She seemed to have the same surprised and confused expression as he did. She must not've known that this was his secret lunch spot, so was she one of _those_ girls? He didn't recognize her face, so she couldn't have been one that was in his class before. Then he realized he had seen her that morning as he was scanning the room. She was one of the new students in his class, and he remembered that she had sat alone against one of the walls, not talking to anyone. But still…

"What are you doing here?" he asked coldly, putting away his kunai and sitting up.

She also sat up and brushed herself off, "I eat here. What are _you_ doing?"

"This has been my eating spot for the past year," he shot back before wondering if that was such a safe thing to say before he knew her true intentions.

"I've eaten here for three years," she jumped to her feet and walked over to a corner of the room where there was a book bag leaned up against the wall and books, papers, and food spread around near it, "So I guess I win. You can stay if you want to, though."

"It's _my_ site, so _I'm_ not leaving," Sasuke tried to figure out how such a thing was possible that they both used the same lunch site and never knew it.

The girl didn't respond. She just sat down amongst her belongings and started to eat as she traced down the page of a book with her finger. Well, at least this meant that she wasn't the kind of girl Sasuke was trying to avoid. He decided he could let it slip, just for the day since he was hungry.

He leaned against the opposite wall and pulled out his lunch. As he ate, he studied the girl. She was Nishiku Megumi and was the top of one of the other classes. Other than that he didn't know much about her. Her clothes were simple and bland colored, a complete opposite from the fangirls. Plus she wore pants instead of a skirt. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun held into place with long needles, except for a few short bangs that fell to her cheeks. Her face was pretty but unexpressive and cold. She seemed not to care that he was even there. Well, perfect, because that's how he felt too. He turned his head and faced sideways for the rest of lunch.

As the time to return to class drew near, Megumi left first, packing up all her things and slipping out through the vent without so much as a nod in Sasuke's direction. He rolled his eyes once she was gone, and cleaned up his belongings.

_The classroom._

Sasuke drew circles on his paper instead of taking notes like everyone around him. He had never needed to write anything down, unless it was particularly complicated, because he had a natural ability for observance and memorization. All he needed to do was watch the teacher explain or perform a technique and he could do it, he never took notes. And this being the first day, it was mostly review anyway.

Unable to overcome his curiosity, Sasuke let his eyes wander over to Megumi's table. She was on the far side, against the wall, with a book in her lap. Every once in a while she would reach up to note something down on her paper, then return to her reading. Why was she so interesting to him? She was like no other girl he had met. He couldn't figure her out.

His ears pricked at the sound of whispering to his left. Sasuke turned his head the other way to investigate and saw, not to his surprise, Ino and a couple other girls with their mouths covered and fingers pointed at him. He gave them one of his glares and they blushed and giggled until the teacher demanded attention. Now _there_ were some girls that were easy to figure out.

_Time to go home._

Sasuke sat on the branch of a tree outside the academy. He wanted to get some training in on the school's equipment, but he intended to wait until everyone else was gone. Students passed under him on their ways home, not even noticing his presence. The familiar sound of irritating voices made him cringe as they drew nearer to his tree.

"I never realized how much I'd missed looking at him all break until today."

"I know, didn't he look handsome today?"

"See, Megu-chan, now you know what we've been talking about all these years. Don't you think Sasuke-kun is amazing?"

On his branch, he raised an eyebrow. This might be interesting. He rolled over quietly to watch the exchange. The group of girls consisted of Ino, Sakura, and Megumi.

"I don't know. I didn't really talk to Sasuke-san."

"Well, nobody _talks_ to Sasuke-_kun_," Ino corrected with a haughty laugh that made Megumi lower her head even more, "I was lucky enough to catch him staring at me last period."

"Oh, that's nothing," Sakura countered, "I almost managed to follow him at lunchtime, but he lost me in the hallways."

"Speaking of which," Ino elbowed Megumi, "Where were _you_ at lunch? I thought we were going to eat together on our first day of class. Honestly, the way you disappear sometimes, you're almost as mysterious as Sasuke-kun. So fess up, where were you?"

Sasuke tensed. Would she give his secret lunch spot away?

"Nothing mysterious, Ino-san," she answered in her naturally quiet voice, "I just found someplace to study."

"Why do you study? It's the first day of school!" Sakura teased as they walked further out of earshot, "Besides, you're already smart…"

Sasuke let out a relieved sigh. That could've been a close call. What was with Megumi? Why did she avoid her friends and lie to them? Were they even her friends at all? Why was he worrying about it?! He jumped down from the tree and marched right towards the academy gymnasium to train until he forgot all about these ridiculous thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lunchtime._

Sasuke pulled the vent closed behind him as he crawled into the attic. Megumi looked up and greeted him with her eye contact then turned her attention back to a paper that she was writing on. As usual, Sasuke retreated to his corner and pulled out his lunch. Every day they had eaten together in this attic and every day they had managed not to speak a word to each other. It was apparent that neither had any intention of leaving, so the next best thing was to just pretend they had the room to themselves. This seemed to be working for Megumi as she was always deeply involved in her studies, but Sasuke had nothing better to do than sit there and watch her.

He noted that her lunches were always small and she never even ate the whole thing. She was never seen without a book or notes. As he shared class with her as well, he noticed how good her grades were, but she still seemed very unsure of herself and blushed deeply whenever she got nervous. During breaks, she was usually surrounded by her friends and admirers, interacting as little as possible without being rude; but as soon as it was lunch time, she would immediately slip off alone. Sasuke was the only person who knew where she ate. Apparently she was trying to avoid people as well, and apparently they were the same people as him.

He thought of all the questions he had for her: How did you eat here for three years without my knowing? Why do you pretend to be Ino and Sakura's friend? Why do you study so much? Why do you never eat very much? Why do you want to eat alone here anyway?

But as he thought about all these questions and their possible answers, time would tick away until she gathered up her things and left. He would soon follow, and then they would return to class still complete strangers. This was the endless cycle of every school day, and today seemed to be no exception. Megumi quietly packed her books back up into her bag and set the remainder of her lunch in on top. She got to her feet and left without any acknowledgement whatsoever towards Sasuke. He scowled at the vent she left through. Normally when he was around another person they wouldn't leave him alone, and he hated it; but now he was beginning to hate being ignored. What was happening to him?

_Early the next morning._

Sasuke awoke to a spasm, his eyes open wide. His heart was racing and he felt panicked. Then the images from his dream began to return. He had dreamt of his brother, and they had fought. Sasuke was ripping him apart. It was both disturbing and satisfying. He sat up and put his face in his hands. Why were they shaking?

The air was warm in his quiet, dark apartment. He had chosen to live on his own after his family was killed, and it hadn't bothered him for awhile. But tonight the loneliness seemed thick enough to choke on, and he blamed his brother. His hatred seemed to overpower even his hurt. Sasuke punched his mattress with all his force and stopped, panting as a tear splattered on the back of his fist. He couldn't stay in this apartment any longer.

He stumbled about in the dark, changing into his school clothes as quickly as possible. With one shoe on and the other still in his hand, he burst through the door and slammed it closed. The crisp, cool night air felt like clean water against his clammy skin. His head felt clearer after only a couple breaths. The outdoors didn't seem nearly as resentful and lonely as his apartment. He decided to take a walk. School was still hours away, but he was dressed to go, just in case he stayed out all night. Without any real plan, he just started walking and found himself at a bridge. He picked up a handful of rocks and dropped them one at a time, watching how the ripples deformed his reflection. Last survivor of the Uchiha clan. He dropped the rest of the rocks in and turned away.

Moving on, he walked until the sky began to get lighter and was soon wandering nearer to the school. He passed the building he ate lunch in and paused. Not knowing exactly why, he climbed up onto the roof and entered through the vent like usual. Nobody was in the attic and it was dark and warm. Not the suffocating warmness and cruel darkness of his apartment, but rather more comfortable and soothing, like what he remembered a hug felt like. He retreated to his corner and sat down, feeling an overwhelming tiredness wash over him.

_Daylight._

His brother once again invaded his dream. Once again they fought, and once again Sasuke won. He looked into his brother's blood-covered face and was shocked to see a smile. Anger welled up inside him.

"Just die!" he shouted.

"I will," the head said mockingly, "And then you'll have nothing left to avenge and nothing left to live for. You'll be truly alone, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke was shocked. Of course he was angry, but the words rang true and stung like salt on a fresh wound. He didn't know how to react. His head was pounding and he just wanted the voice of his brother to stop as he laughed over and over again.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke-san!"

He gasped in a breath as he awoke from the laughter only to see Megumi standing over him.

"Sasuke-san. Oh, good, you're awake; it's almost time for class," she said calmly.

He sat up in confusion until he remembered that he had fallen asleep in the attic. But why was Megumi here?

She seemed to sense his question as he stared at her, "In case you're wondering, I come here to review in the morning before class. I was surprised to find you here too, but I let you sleep until now. It's almost time to go, so I thought I'd wake you up."

He continued to stare at her, "Aren't you going to ask what I was doing here?"

She lowered her head, "Well, it's not my business. And it seemed like something you wouldn't want to talk about, since you were…pretty upset, it seemed."

"Huh?" Sasuke turned in a panic and saw the wet tears on the floor where his head had rested.

His face flushed with embarrassment and anger, and he turned away.

"Well, we should get to class, don't you think?" she asked quietly.

He sighed, and stood up behind her, "It's just lonely, that's all. It's lonely being an avenger."

Megumi led the way to the vent and removed it, but paused before jumping out. Sasuke wondered what she was going to say to him. This was the most they had ever spoken, and the most personal side of him that he had revealed to anyone in years. She just shook her head and jumped through the vent. Sasuke stood there a second longer, staring at the opening. She had seen him crying, she had heard him admit that he was lonely, and she just left without even looking at him. All his life he had been annoyed with people trying to get close to him, so why was it so frustrating that Megumi was keeping her distance when she had every chance to pry deeper? Sasuke's feeling of loneliness only intensified and the voice of his brother rang in his ears all the way to class.

_Third period._

The paper ripped under the force of Sasuke's pencil scratching back and forth. He was tense and angry and felt like he was going to burst. At first he had tried to distract himself and just bury his worries, but they were building up; and the more he held them in, the worse he felt. For once, he just wanted to tell someone and get everything off his chest. He needed to know that he wasn't alone. Or was what his brother said right?

A small gasp caused him to glance behind him at Sakura. She was staring at his pencil-scratched ripped paper with almost a look of fear. She leaned over and began whispering to Ino. Sasuke turned back around, clenching his pencil so hard that it felt like it would break.

"Excuse me, ladies!" the teacher said with enough force to snap Sasuke back to attention, "You'll need to wait until after class to gossip. Now, as I was saying, the key players in the Ninja War were those shinobi that belonged to a clan of advanced blood line. This included the Hyuga clan, the Sarutobi clan, the Uchiha clan…"

The pencil broke in two.

"These clans were used as soldiers because of their unique weapons of natural skills. The different sides in this war rounded up as many advanced bloodline clans as they could find in their area. The divisions were like this: The Country of Fire controlled the Uchiha clan with the sharingan bloodline, the Hyuga clan with…"

Sasuke's head ached. He had learned this story in history class many times and it had stopped bothering him long ago, but why now? Why did they have to have this lesson today? It was the last thing he wanted to hear. He was cursed with knowing the whole story, the parts that weren't taught in school, and at this moment he wanted to tell them. He wanted to tell someone. His eyes moved to the corner of the room, and he was surprised to see Megumi looking back at him. She looked concerned. It was the first time he had seen an expression on her other than seriousness or boredom. She jumped when she saw he was looking at her, and turned back to her notes.

Sasuke's mouth hung slightly open as he continued to stare at her profile. That look she had given him, the sincerity in her eyes, in a split second it had pushed down all his feelings of anxiety and loneliness. If he hadn't seen it, he was sure he would've lost it and started yelling everything out in class. They would've looked at him with eyes like Sakura, full of fear and shallowness. The eyes that made him feel different and alone. But Megumi's look was one that felt trustworthy. He wanted to tell her everything he had been holding in. Suddenly he couldn't wait for lunch break.


	3. Chapter 3

_Lunch_.

The attic was empty. Sasuke walked around it more than once, unable to figure out her absence. She was always there before him, she had never been late.

"Megumi!" he called and was surprised at the quiver of panic in his voice.

The word was swallowed up by the walls, amplifying Sasuke's feeling of loneliness. He punched the wall closest to him and turned his head toward the vent. That was it; he was going out to get her.

He sprang from the attic and hit the ground running. The school grounds were filled with kids eating lunch and he had no idea where to start looking. Suddenly he heard his name. With annoyance he looked to see Sakura and Ino trotting towards him, waving their arms. Megumi was right behind them, looking at the ground uncomfortably.

"Wow, imagine seeing you at this time," Ino laughed, "Do you want to eat lunch with us? Megumi's finally joining us too, cuz she has no homework today. We could finally all hang out together."

Sasuke stared past them in disbelief at Megumi. She seemed to be just as surprised to see him outside at lunchtime as he was to see her. But why was she avoiding him to be with _them_?

"I…was just…," he realized there was nothing he could say without giving away both of their secrets, "I've got to go."

Angry at himself and even angrier at her, he ran a zig-zag course back to his lunch spot. He climbed into the attic and sat down in his spot. For the first time, he realized that he actually hadn't brought a lunch. Now what was he going to do?

The squeak of the vent being removed caused his head to snap up. He wondered if maybe someone had followed him, but lacked the will to move out view in case it was. Megumi swung in through the opening and relief washed over him. He didn't move as he stared up at her, trying to sort out whether he was still mad or not. She walked over to her corner and sat down without looking at him, but this time she didn't open her bag and get right to studying.

"Ino-san and Sakura-san wanted to follow you after you left," she said, "You weren't being very careful, so I had to throw them off until I had a chance to get separated from them and come here."

He was confused. He just couldn't figure her out.

"I didn't come today because I thought you might want to be alone," she continued after the silence, "But why were you outside too?"

His head ached with embarrassment as he reluctantly admitted, "I _don't_ want to be alone. I went outside to look for you."

"That doesn't sound like you," Megumi turned around to face him.

He scowled, suddenly finding himself on the defensive, "How would you know? You don't know anything about me! What gives you the right to assume that I'd rather be alone after going through everything that I have in the last day?!"

Her face creased with hurt and she immediately rebutted, "Well, you don't know anything about me either! What gives you the right to assume that I care about _your_ problems?!"

"I saw your eyes!" he shouted back, "You're the only one who's looked at me with that kind of concern. I wanted to talk to you today, but if you'd rather go hang out with Ino and Sakura then you can go ahead and just leave!"

She didn't move, and her face was turned to the side, hidden in a shadow. Finally after a minute of silence, she reached into her bag and pulled out her lunch.

"All right, let's talk. I'm tired of not knowing anything about you. And since you don't have a lunch, we can split mine."

Her announcement erased the tension he had felt build up over the last minute. He crawled over to the lunch and let her divide it up between them. They had never sat this close before, eye-to-eye.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-san, I didn't mean what I said earlier," she handed him his half of the lunch, "I do care. I just didn't think you liked being felt sorry for, and I didn't think you'd want me pry. Like you said, I hardly know you."

"Well, you were right too," he conceded, "I guess I don't know much about you either, but maybe that's why I feel I trust you so much. And thanks for keeping my secret from your friends."

She scowled, "I don't think I'd call them friends."

"Then why do you hang out with them?" he challenged.

"That's…that's a whole other story," she sighed, "Besides, I thought you wanted to talk about you."

Sasuke felt much better with food in his stomach, and finally addressed the urgent need to remove the weight of the emotional load he had carried for so long.

"So you've heard about my family in class, right?" he lay down on his back, "And I'm sure you've studied about them in your books too."

"Yes, I have," she answered and he noticed that she hadn't even eaten her half of the lunch when she put it away, "It must have been tough for you. I can't even imagine how tough."

"It hasn't actively bothered me for a long time," Sasuke stared at the ceiling, blurring his eyes to recall the sequence of events, "Ever since they died, I've lived on my own in my apartment and taken care of myself. I've devoted my life to getting revenge against my clans' murderer. That's not a big secret, I guess, but what most people don't know is that the one I want to kill is my brother."

She made a surprised sound, "Your brother killed your parents? I thought it was still a mystery."

He frowned, "No, it was him. Only a few other people know this, and I know you won't tell, but my every action is dedicated towards my revenge against my brother. My sole motivation is to kill him; it's why I want to become a shinobi so badly. Like I said, I've lived like this for years now, and it hasn't bothered me for a while, until last night. I had a dream with him in it and I killed him, but even when he was dying he wouldn't stop laughing. I was tearing him to pieces, but he wouldn't stop laughing.

I woke up and just couldn't stay at home anymore, so I put on my clothes and set out for a walk. Somehow I ended up here and fell asleep again. I had the same dream only this time my brother's head said something. It said that once he was dead, I'd have nothing left to avenge and nothing left to live for and I'd be completely alone. That's when you woke me up.

I haven't felt this lonely since they first died, and it's been torturing me all day. My apartment feels empty, every room I'm in feels empty, my _soul_ feels empty, and I had no one to talk to about it. So my brother was right, the only thing that keeps me from being alone right now is my quest for revenge. Once that's gone, what will I have?

Anyway, I'm sure you know you're not to speak to anyone about this. I don't even know why I chose you to tell all this to. I guess you just seemed like a trustworthy person and someone who cared enough to listen but was objective enough not to be sympathetic. I don't want someone who will worry about me."

"Then maybe you picked the wrong person to tell," he saw that Megumi was wearing the same concerned look as in class, "I've been worried about you since I saw you this morning. I really just thought that you'd want to be left alone, since you seem like a very solitary kind of person, so I didn't say anything. Then in class I could see that you were having a hard time listening to the lecture, and I thought you were mad at me for noticing. I figured you'd want to be left alone for lunch, but all the time I was worrying."

"I'll never figure you out," Sasuke sighed, "We eat together for three months and never speak a word to each other, but one day I seem upset and you start worrying about me."

"Same goes for you," she said seriously, "In three months you never say a word to me, but one day you're upset and only want to talk to _me_. You always seemed so cold, like you didn't want to have any friends."

"So did you," he shot back, "You're always studying and avoiding people. You've never showed emotions until now."

"Yeah, but you're exactly the same way," she pointed out calmly.

He paused, "I guess that's true, but I've got a good reason. What's your problem?"

"I doubt you'd care," she raised an eyebrow, "Why are you even asking?"

"Well, it's only fair, I suppose," he shrugged and sat up, "I mean, I feel a lot better having told someone, and you seem like you've got no one to tell. Besides you're kind of mysterious, and it bugs me that I can't figure you out."

"What do you want to know? I haven't got nearly the background you have. In fact I'm the first in my family to ever go to the Academy. I've got no particular skills or anything. What's so mysterious?"

"Okay," he lay down onto his stomach and rested his chin on his crossed arms, "Why do you get some of the highest grades in the class, yet you're always studying and reviewing and practicing?"

"What kind of question is that?" she scowled, "Not everyone can be a genius like you, Sasuke-san. I only get the high grades _because_ I'm always studying, reviewing, and practicing."

"But you _always_ study!" he persisted, "Even when we're reviewing basics. Every 5-year-old student knows these things, yet you take notes like it's the first time you've ever heard it."

"I didn't go to school when I was five," she said angrily then took a deep breath, "I guess I do have a story, but remember _you_ were the one who wanted to hear it."

He nodded. Finally, he was getting something out of her.

"I only joined the academy three years ago," she began, "When I was young, the age most kids start training here, my parents wouldn't let me go. You see, my mom is the editor of a magazine and my dad is a photographer. They're very professional people that wanted me to have a real money-making job. I've always wanted to be a shinobi, but they said it wasn't lady-like. I just wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to show them that women could be strong and smart and brave. But what could I do against them? Finally, the other kids started going off to ninja academy and their parents were so proud. I went to work and my parents were satisfied.

All through the years, I begged for them to let me join the academy, but they always had an excuse. They made me work and work and told me I didn't have time to go to school. They said it would ruin my career and I'd be poor. But I don't care about money. I want to prove to them and myself that I can do it! Finally they gave in, but were very unhappy about it. I have to keep working, and I have to pay my own way through school, but at least they're letting me do it.

The first year I was here, I was so behind. I didn't know anything that everyone had learned all through their childhood, so I was studying all the time to try and catch up. I've held on to those studying habits because I'm still trying to make sure that I know everything. When I'm not at school, I'm working, so I have to do all my studying here. I have to study very hard or I'll fall behind. You're lucky that it all comes naturally to you."

"So you've only been a student for three years, but you're at the top of the class?" Sasuke asked in amazement, "_And_ you have a job?"

She nodded, "My parents hate me for it. They think this is a waste of time, so they always put my work above school. That's why I'm not allowed to study at home when I should be taking care of my hair or skin, and that's why I can't work too hard on taijutsu here. I'm not allowed to come home with bruises."

"I don't get it," he raised an eyebrow, "What kind of job do you have?"

Megumi paused and looked at him for a little while, "I…I don't know if I want to tell you. Everyone thinks of me differently after I tell them. And they treat me differently."

"What?!" he sat up, "Are you something disreputable, like a prostitute?"

She stared at him a second more, then suddenly burst out laughing. Sasuke couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. It wasn't often that broke from his usual mask, but he had never seen Megumi smile or heard her laugh. The sound of it seemed to draw the corners of his mouth up involuntarily.

"No, sorry, I guess I was making it sound kind of shady, though," she said, still with a smile, "Remember, I told you my mom is an editor and my dad is a photographer? Well, ever since I was young I've been in the magazine business too, as…well, as a model. There, so now you know."

Her smile had faded, and his died with it.

"A model?" he said unsurely, "But you dress so plain and you never do your hair."

"I didn't want to draw attention to myself," she shrugged, "My mom wasn't very happy about it either. Keeping my hair in a bun takes away the volume and stuff like that. And she wanted me to have a more feminine outfit, like Sakura or Ino."

"Do they know?"

"Oh, yeah, they know. Ino recognized me the first day of school when I first came. She switched to your class the same week, but she and Sakura always wanted to hang out with me, even though I wasn't in their class. They thought of me completely differently because they knew what I was. I couldn't talk to them because all they wanted to talk about was my magazine and going to photo shoots. But I have to admit they helped me out a lot with my studies that first year, so I kind of feel that I owe them. That's why I still can't tell them how I really feel, and I just avoid them instead.

But, anyway, every time someone finds out about my job their opinion changes. Either they start being nicer to me, or they suddenly think I'm a snob and start being rude to me, or they get too nervous to even talk to me anymore. That's why I don't tell people."

"So," Sasuke started to figure things out in his head, "That's why you never eat all of your lunch."

"Oh, you noticed, huh?" she bit her lip, "Yeah, my parents have always paid close attention to my weight. I've been getting heavier the more I practice taijutsu here, so I've been cutting back on what I eat in order to keep my weight lower."

"That's sick," Sasuke felt his stomach tighten, "If you keep pushing yourself without the right sustenance, you're going to seriously injure yourself. You'll never be a ninja if you keep yourself weak."

"You don't understand," she growled, "I work too hard to go to this academy, and this is the only way I can stay here. I'll do anything, whatever it takes, to not give up this dream. And you are not allowed to worry about me, Sasuke-san!"

"Stop calling me that!" he rolled his eyes, "I guess we're kind of friends now, so just Sasuke will be fine."

She blinked, "We're friends?"

"I know you don't want any," he looked at the strips of light from the vent that fell on the floor, "And I don't want any either, but we haven't got a choice. I know more about you than anybody and you know more about me, and I already spend more time alone with you in the day than anybody else. Besides, maybe I can help you with studies, especially since we're missing class."

"What?!" Megumi sat up straight, "Missing class?!"

They both looked at the light strips which had moved well past the spot on the floor that they normally were when it was time to go back to class. Megumi began zipping up her bag.

"Wait," Sasuke smiled, and it seemed to come easier to him this time, "It must be the middle of last period by now, and what would it look like when we both walk in late?"

She dropped her bag again, "Ino-san and Sakura-san would kill me! Of course they probably will anyway. They're not stupid – after today I'm sure they've figured it out. Great; they weren't the best friends, but I really don't want them as enemies."

"Who cares?" he sighed, "They weren't good for you anyway. I said I'd be your friend now, if you want."

"Thank you," her voice was quiet, "So do you know what we were going to study today?"

"No, but if you find out later then we can go over tomorrow at lunch," he offered.

She nodded and there was a long pause until Sasuke's stomach growled. He felt a blush as she started laughing again.

"I didn't eat breakfast!" he snapped, embarrassed.

"Here," she unzipped her bag and dug around for a moment, "Have the rest of my lunch. I wasn't going to eat it."

"I know you weren't," he said with a bit of agitation as he took the lunch, "I don't agree with your method at all."

"Sorry," she shrugged.

Sasuke opened the lunch and gratefully began eating. Megumi was silent as she stared at the vent. He was uncomfortable with the only sound in the room being that of his eating, but luckily he heard her take a large breath to say something.

"Sasuke, I…thank you," she looked back at him, "You were right, I do feel a lot better having talked to someone. And I'm glad I know more about you."

He swallowed the last bite and realized something. Not only did he feel better than this morning, but he felt better than he had in years. It almost seemed like pride that welled up in him at having proven his brother wrong. Sasuke never thought he'd want a friend, but now that he had one there was something different. Something better. It had changed him, but it had also changed her. He felt like he knew her and she knew him, so there was an equal amount of vulnerability and trust from both of them.

"Well, thank you for listening to my problems too," he was surprised to find himself smiling automatically now, "And I'm glad we talked. Even your face looks different now that I know more about you."

"You know what?" she mirrored his smile, "Yours does too."

"And thanks for the lunch," he handed her back her container.

"Oh, that's no problem," she put it away and zipped up her bag, "I just hope I don't have to find you sleeping here too often. Anyway, I think I'm going to go home early today, since we can't exactly go back to class."

"Ok," Sasuke watched her get up and head towards the vent, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you," she waved and pulled the vent open, hopping out.

The room was quiet until Sasuke sighed deeply. He felt completely different than he had just hours ago during class. The weight and panic were gone, the nervousness and loneliness had disappeared. He was alone again, but didn't feel it. Now, he had something to look forward to, and it wasn't anything painful like revenge. He almost felt excited. This betrayal of his regular attitude worried him; and as a reaction, he adopted an even harder shell than normal.

He wore a scowl as he jumped from the opening, after reattaching the vent. Nobody had ever made him feel as comfortable as Megumi, and he hated everyone for it. He walked home slowly, kicking every good sized rock within reach of his leg.


	4. Chapter 4

_The book store._

Sasuke was embarrassed and angry at himself for being here, but curiosity had gotten the better of him. After going home and studying or training for a few hours, he couldn't get his mind off what Megumi had told him. He wanted to know what she looked like when she wasn't trying to blend in. He wanted to see her as a model. So he had reluctantly wandered into the town bookstore and was scanning the magazine rack.

He cursed anyone that might see him there. It was not in his nature to be interested in pop-culture or pretty girls, but how was he going to explain to someone why he was looking through all the girly magazines? Would they believe him if he told them that it was because he had a friend and modeling was a very big part of this friend's life, and he wanted to know what this other side of her was like? It was the truth.

The bells on the door jingled and Sasuke froze. Suddenly he heard two familiar voices, and dashed behind a nearby book stack.

"…that she would tell us that?!" Sakura's tone was irate.

Ino was definitely in the same mood, "Please, as if she would ever miss a single class, even if her cousin _is_ in town."

"There's one, Ino. 'Beauty.' And she's on the cover too. She may be a good model, but I could see right through her acting. She wasn't surprised at all when we told her Sasuke-kun was missing all afternoon as well."

He could hear the sound of them flipping through the magazine pages.

Ino snorted, "Yeah, it was a bit obvious that they are in cahoots. One day she just happens to be free for lunch time and the next thing we know, Sasuke-kun is out in plain view as well. Then they both disappear at the same time. How could she do this to us? Here look, Sakura, she's got three pages in a row of coat ads."

"Look for something bigger," the flipping pages continued, "Yes, I certainly didn't see her cousin anywhere at the house."

They had gone to her house just to harass her?! And what were they looking for her magazine ads for?

"Swimsuit ad?"

"No, I want one of her face."

The pages kept flipping.

"Here, a makeup ad. Very close up on her face."

"Gosh, look at that hair. She makes me so mad. Yeah, Ino, let's get this one. This'll make kunai-throwing practice a little more interesting."

They were using her pictures for target practice?! Sasuke's clenched fists made nail marks in his palm. There was no more talking until the two girls had purchased the magazine and were leaving the store.

"Back-stabbing man-stealer," Ino growled and their conversation was cut off by the slamming door.

Sasuke took a deep breath and let it out, finally relaxing his fists. At least they had let him know which magazine to look in. He stepped out from behind the bookshelf and approached the magazines again, scanning the titles for "Beauty." Finally he found it and his eyes widened. _That_ was Megumi? He hardly recognized her at all. The clothes, the hair-do, the makeup, were all different than what he could ever imagine her wearing. She had the longest hair he had seen and it was blowing playfully in a breeze. He loved long hair and had no idea that hers was so beautiful. So that's why her mother didn't like her having it in a bun all the time. What else would she surprise him with?

Flipping through the pages, he came across the coat ads first. She was so stylish-looking and mature, a completely different than in class or when they had talked. They seemed like three different people in his mind. The swimsuit ad was next and his breath caught. He had never been one to look at pictures like this before and it was especially weird seeing one of his friend. He looked around nervously to make sure nobody was watching him. Getting over the fact that he had never seen any girl show so much skin before, he noted her smile. In the picture she was laughing, but it looked much different than the laugh he had seen at lunch time. It wasn't as genuinely happy. He also noticed how skinny and toned she was, despite her admitted attempt to shrink her muscles. Flipping on, he encountered the makeup ad. Her features seemed so different with the makeup on. She was so beautiful. He slammed the magazine shut and reshelved it.

So this was her secret life. He didn't blame her for not wanting to tell anyone. It made Ino and Sakura treat her differently. Even _he_ felt like he wouldn't know how to talk to her the next time he saw her.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he headed home for the night.

_First Period._

The noise in the classroom quieted down as the teacher came in and called roll. Sasuke stole a glance at Megumi, sitting at the corner table. She was reading a book, as usual.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Nishiku Megumi," the teacher's voice caught everyone's attention, "Glad to see you both made it back to class today."

On either side of Sasuke, Ino and Sakura made a quiet hissing sound and everyone else in the class snickered.

"You were the only ones to miss the test yesterday," he continued, "But I'll give you a chance to do a make-up quiz right now. Get up here."

Megumi stood up immediately and hurried to the front of the class, bowing nervously, "Thank you, Iruka-sensei."

With a snort, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and walked down the stairs.

"Henge no jutsu," Iruka declared, "Hokage-sama."

Sasuke had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Megumi seemed to be fidgeting though. Why was such a simple jutsu causing her so much worry?

With a sigh, Sasuke performed the seal with his hands, "Henge!"

When the small puff of smoke cleared, Iruka-sensei was looking at him and nodding, "Good job as usual, Sasuke-san. Now, Megumi-san."

"Yes, Sensei," she performed the seal and with a shaky voice declared, "Henge!"

Sasuke watched her carefully. The transformation was flawless, but her lack of self-confidence was obvious.

"Thank you, both, you may change back now and return to your seats," the teacher dismissed them, "And try not to miss class again."

They both changed back and trudged to their chairs without even exchanging glances. He noticed that her ears had turned red and she immediately hid her face with her hand once she was sitting down. Who was this girl? This wasn't the friendly girl he had talked and smiled with the day before, and it certainly wasn't the mature outgoing girl in the magazine. Now there was even more he wanted to figure out about her.

_Lunchtime._

Megumi's corner was empty. Sasuke glared at it. Now where was she? He sat down in his spot and started in on his lunch. There was no reason for her not to show up today. An image of her magazine cover came into his mind. His eyes blurred when he thought about that face, that hair, that swimsuit…no! He shouldn't think of her that way. No wonder she hadn't wanted to tell him. He began to wish she hadn't. How could he look her in the eyes now and not see that beauty? Would he be able to last an entire lunchtime without asking her to put down her hair? Well, he would if she never showed up!

As if on cue, the vent squeaked and light flooded in as a silhouette entered the room. Sasuke gasped when he saw short dark hair and blank eyes, but it was too late for him to hide.

"Oh, Sasuke-san, it's me," the stranger said, then in a puff of smoke turned into Megumi, "Sorry, I had to turn into Hinata-san to keep Sakura-san and Ino-san from following me. I think they're mad at me."

He tightened his lips as he studied her face. Who was she really?

"What?" she frowned at his stare and self-consciously shuffled over to her spot, "What's that look for?"

"Can…" he wanted to stop himself from saying it, "Can I see you with your hair down?"

Her frowning expression didn't change as she responded flatly, "Why?"

Suddenly, he felt stupid. He turned away and shoved a bite of food in his mouth.

After a minute of silence, and staring at his sandwich, a blur of motion caused Sasuke to throw his head back as a long needle weapon impaled the wall next to him followed by another a split second after. His attention shot to Megumi as she slowly stood up, her bun unraveling and her hair cascading down her back and finally stopping below her bottom.

"What's the harm now?" she said in her serious voice, but with a tinge of anger, "I shouldn't've told you but I did, and I can't change that now, nor can I change your new opinion of me. So what do you think of me now, Sasuke-san? Do you hate me too?"

It was the most beautiful hair he had ever seen, but the tone of her voice overshadowed any feeling of awe he was having.

"I don't hate you," he pulled her hair sticks from the wall and stood up with an equally serious voice, "At least not the you that I thought I knew, but I really can't figure out which one is real: the magazine you, the classroom you, or the you that I saw yesterday - the you that is the only person to make me smile."

She looked stunned. Obviously, she had not expected the answer he had given. She took the chopsticks from his hand and leaned back against the wall, staring at the ground.

"Why would you ask if I hated you too? Who else hates you?" Sasuke crossed his arms.

She slid down along the wall until she was sitting and reached into her bag, pulling out a tattered piece of paper, "I found this in my locker this morning."

He took it and was barely able to recognize Megumi's makeup picture from the magazine. It had been punctured full of holes. He knew right away it was the one that Sakura had used for target practice.

"Don't let it get to you," he crumpled it up, "They're jealous."

"I don't mind being ignored, or not cared about," Megumi bit her quivering lip, "But the one thing I don't want to be is hated. I didn't know they'd be this mad."

Sasuke stared at her. This was her. This was genuine. She wasn't the cold emotionless person that she projected to everyone around her, and she wasn't the carefree beauty that he had seen in the magazine. For the first time Sasuke felt pity as he watched someone on the verge of tears.

"Is it because of me?" he sat down next to her.

She nodded and wiped her eyes, "But it's not your fault."

He snorted, "They've been annoying far too long. It's time I make them hate me instead."

"Sasuke-san," Megumi grabbed his wrist, "You don't have to do that. I don't want you to be hated too."

"We're friends right?" he turned to her, "I'm sort of new to this, but isn't that what friends do? Fight for each other's honor?"

She chuckled, "Sure, something like that I guess."

"And friends don't call each other San either," he reminded her.

"Sorry," she continued to smile, "Can friends hug too?"

Sasuke was sort of taken aback. Nobody had ever hugged him since his mother. He nodded slowly, but wasn't sure what to do. She shifted to face him then leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his shoulder. He cautiously lifted his arms and placed them on her back, clutching her hair in his fingers. What was this warm feeling? The feeling of another person being close, not just physically, but also to his heart. He felt like he was protecting Megumi as he held her within his arms, and it was so strange to him. When his revenge was complete, this is what he would hold on to. He had never felt loneliness leave him so completely in his life.

"Thanks," she leaned back and sniffed, "I needed that."

No _I_ needed that, he thought to himself.

"Sorry, for being such a baby, I'm just kind of nervous today," Megumi sighed, "I had a rough day yesterday when Ino and Sakura came over and then I got up extra early this morning to come and study, so I'm really tired. Then we had that surprise quiz this morning that really shook me up."

"Why?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Megumi, you did perfect, why were you so nervous?"

She stared at the ceiling as she struggled for words, "I…well, I just am never sure of myself. I haven't grown up using chakra and practicing seals like all of you. I'm just not very confident. Everyone has these amazing natural abilities, but I'm an ordinary person. I have to force everything to make it work, and I never know if I'm doing it exactly right. So now I feel more stressed about that than usual. I need to practice all my jutsus more than studying."

"I'll help you," he shrugged, "Jutsus and stuff come pretty easy to me."

"Really?" she brightened, "Well, could you help me gather my chakra. It isn't very easy for me."

"Okay," he thought for a moment, "Hold out your hand, palm up, and gather as much chakra into it as you can."

She nodded firmly and held out her hand. He could see the muscles in her arms flexing as she strained to force the chakra through the openings in her hand. Sasuke placed his palm over hers and lowered it down until they were touching.

"Hmmm," he frowned, "You should be able to gather enough chakra that there would be more resistance against my hand coming down."

"I tried," she stared at their hands, "See, I'm not so good at this."

"Well, maybe you're forcing it too hard and with the wrong kind of force," he sighed and slid his hand off hers, "You can't push chakra to and fro with your muscles. It's more with your energy. The only thing that can move chakra is chakra. You have to concentrate it into your hand by making it flow there, not pushing it there. I don't know how much I'm helping. I've never really had to think about it before, it just came so easily to me."

She held out her hand again and stared at it intently. Sasuke reached out and put his fingers into her palm.

"Ugh!" she let her hand drop, "It's so different from just reading about it and hearing you talk about it. I have no talent for this kind of thing."

"Just keep practicing," Sasuke stood up, "It'll come easier, I promise. And soon you'll find your natural skill. Sorry I kept you from studying."

"Is it time to go all ready?" she glanced at the strips of light, "Wow, we'd better not be late again. Thanks for helping me, Sasuke."

"I'm not done yet," he set a determined gaze towards the vent, "I'm going to find a way to get back at Ino and Sakura."

"Please don't cause too much trouble," she warned him.

"You'll see, I'll find a way," he shot her a smile, then removed the vent and hopped out.


	5. Chapter 5

_Last Period._

Sasuke glanced to his left and to his right, on which sat Sakura and Ino. He had tried not to find himself surrounded again, but they threatened the other people out of their seats after he had already sat down. Now he was just looking for an opportunity to make it obvious how little he appreciated their perseverance.

"Okay, we'll end there," Iruka-sensei shut the book he had been reading from, "But before I send you home I want to remind you all that the day after tomorrow is the start of the survival exam. We've decided to let you team up into pairs."

Sasuke cringed internally as he saw the two girls on either side of him snap their heads around in his direction.

"Tomorrow will be review day with your partner and the next two days will be the test," Iruka continued, "So I'm going to ask you to choose your teammate today and try to pick someone you haven't been paired with before in other projects. Come up to the front and tell me your teams."

That was it! Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. That was how he would make Ino and Sakura hate him. That was how he would make it obvious. He saw Sakura start to move out of the corner of his eye, and this caused him to immediately spring into action. Sasuke jumped to his feet and raised his hand.

"My teammate will be Megumi," he declared.

Everyone was looking at him, and Iruka paused with a crooked look on his face before finally putting his pen to the scroll, "All right, team number one is Sasuke and Megumi. Now will everyone else please _come to the front_ to tell me their teams?"

Sasuke made contact with Megumi's astonished eyes and smiled. The smile turned into a sneer as he looked down at Sakura, then plopped back down into his seat. Ino growled and stormed down the stairs to join the rest of the class making their way towards the front. Sakura just lowered her head and slowly dragged herself down the stairs as well. In a few seconds Megumi rushed to his side.

"That was daring, Sasuke," she whispered, "I hope you did the right thing."

"Hmph," he stared over his folded hands at the group of students gathered around the teacher, "I think they got the point."

"Thank you," she smiled and rushed out of the classroom.

Now where was she off to in such a hurry? He was getting to know her better, but there were still so many things he still couldn't figure out about her. Maybe this survival training would be a good time for that. Maybe his plan was better than he had intended.

_Review Day._

"Uchiha Sasuke," Mizuki-sensei approached Sasuke's desk, "Where's your partner?"

"How should I know?" he answered flatly without even blinking.

"Well, you still need to finish the worksheet for your team," he tapped the paper that sat untouched in front of Sasuke's folded arms, "And I suggest you contact your partner tonight to make sure you still have one for tomorrow."

Sasuke pulled out his pencil and began skimming through the ridiculously easy questions. Most of the groups around him were discussing them and looking things up, but he just filled out the answer spaces one after the other. If Megumi were here, she would've known all this as well, he told himself. But just in case, he had been taking notes for her. He wasn't sure why she was gone, but he trusted that she wouldn't leave him without a clue by the next morning.

_The next morning._

The students were buzzing with excitement and nervousness as they waited for the teacher to arrive. This was a highly anticipated test and the hardest one that they would have to take before graduation exams. Sasuke knew it would be tougher than the last years' survival test, but it was still simple enough, especially in teams. His team should have no problem at all…as long as the other member showed up. He sighed and glanced down at the scroll on his lap. It contained the notes he had taken for her the day before. He knew she'd be panicking since she missed them, and there's no way she'd miss a huge test like this one, so where was she?

"Sasuke-sa…" her voice surprised him from the right as she slid into the seat next to him, "I mean, Sasuke…sorry I missed school yesterday. I'll explain everything."

Just then the teacher and four chuunins entered the room and everyone quieted down. Megumi sighed and turned to face the front of the room, then Sasuke did the same.

"Good morning, class," Iruka-sensei greeted, "We'll make this brief so that we can get started on the exam right away. I'll give each of you your group's location as you leave. The exam begins in one hour, so you had all better hurry to your locations once you get them. These four chuunin will be monitoring you until tomorrow night, making sure nobody's cheating and also making sure you don't get in to a situation you can't handle. You won't know they're there, so you'll have to be doing your best at all times. Remember, no backpacks or bags. You can only bring what can fit on your person. Good luck."

The four chuunin filed out the door and the students made their way to Iruka-sensei to receive their location assignments. Sasuke and Megumi exchanged glances and descended the steps as well.

"Okay," Iruka said when they reached him as he scanned his chart, "Team one: Uchiha Sasuke and Nishiku Megumi. You are assigned to the border of the Forest of Death."

Sasuke was a bit surprised himself, but Megumi burst out with a gasp.

"You can't send us there!" she argued, "Even gennins can't survive that."

"I know, I know, it seems a bit tough," he shrugged, "But you two are the top students of your class, so I'm sure you can handle the border. Stick close to the gate and you'll be all right. Remember, the chuunin will be watching out for you too."

From Megumi's expression, Sasuke could tell that Iruka-sensei's explanation hadn't satisfied her, but she had to follow him as he headed towards the door. They walked quietly down the hallway and into the open outdoors.

"Well, let's get going," Sasuke nodded in the direction of the forest.

Megumi looked frustrated but motioned for him to lead the way. They had less than an hour to get to Forest of Death and it was about 40 minutes away, so they decided to jog slowly.

"So, what made you miss school yesterday?" Sasuke asked flatly, still staring ahead.

"I had to stay home and work," she answered, just as seriously, "My parents were very upset that I'd be gone for two days, so I agreed to stay home yesterday and get twice the amount of work done…to make up for what I'd be missing during this test."

"I take it they agreed?" he assumed.

"Barely," she sounded slightly angry, "I still have to work while we're doing the test. I told them my partner could take pictures."

Sasuke was struck with surprise and a strange feeling that he didn't know what to do, so he just remained quiet. After a long pause during which he could feel the weight of her stare, she finally drew a breath.

"You don't have to, though," she continued, "I'll just do Bunshin no Jutsu and do it myself."

"I took notes for you," Sasuke informed her with a change of the subject, "When you missed class yesterday, I figured you'd be panicking, so I took notes. I'll give them to you later."

"Thanks," Megumi sounded surprised.

They continued jogging to a comfortable silence, for neither one of them really enjoyed talking. At long last they reached a tall fence that served as the border of the Forest of Death. There wasn't an entrance nearby, so they both hopped over the top and landed on the other side, pausing as if expecting something to happen.

Megumi looked up at the sky, "It'll be an hour soon, so we'd better find where we're supposed to be."

With a scowl Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, "Iruka Sensei said the edge of the forest and that's where we are, so I think this place is as good as any."

"If you say so," Megumi shrugged and turned her head to look at their surroundings, "I don't think I like being right next to the fence though. It makes me feel like I'm in a cage at a zoo or something."

Allowing just a hint of a smile in his eyes, Sasuke tilted his head towards the deep forest, "We could move further in if that's what you want."

"No, never mind," she wiped her palms on her hips, "I'd rather stay here, actually."

"No, you were right before, it is weird being right next to the fence, we should go further in," he took a hand out of his pocket and produced a kunai, "It'll be a good challenge."

"I don't want to, Sasuke," she began to sound actually distressed, "That place is really frightening and it gives me a bad feeling. Let's stay right here. Iruka Sensei said the border."

"Well, considering the size of this forest, a few more yards in is still considered the border. Besides," he turned to look her in the eye, "You have more talent than confidence. You'll be fine."

She was quiet as he turned back around to face the forest.

With a sigh he added, "And I'll look out for you too."

He knew quite well that she had potential, but it was her faith in herself that was lacking. For once he wanted to do something for someone else, and it was to help Megumi find her confidence. By the end of this experience he would see her courage. Hopefully, he'd be able to discover new things about himself as well, especially in a situation as awkward as the one she was planning with the photo shoot.

"Sasuke," Megumi's voice, though softer than usual, interrupted his thoughts, "I think this is far enough."

He looked around, realizing that he hadn't even been paying attention to how far they had walked. In the still moment, he thought he could hear running water off ahead to the right.

"I think we should find that stream," he resumed walking, "It'd be wiser to camp near water."

"I know," her narrowed eyes stared at her hands, "Go ahead."

"That's what you get," he reprimanded her, "For not showing up on review day. There are fundamentals to exercises like this, and…"

"I know them," she snapped, "And tromping headlong into the Forest of Death for no good reason and without any regard for stealth or safety, seems to go against all the fundamentals."

"Well, I'm just trying to make it interesting for high-level students like us," Sasuke was losing the rare patience that he had, "Besides, if this were a real mission, you can be sure that we'd be going about it a little more seriously."

"But it's a real test!" she argued forcibly, "And this is the real forest!"

"What's your deal with tests?!" he rolled his eyes, "You're smart! You don't have to stress about every single little test that you take. With as hard as you work, there's no way you can do badly."

Megumi snorted, "I appreciate your confidence, Sasuke, but you have no idea what it's like to have to work to maintain skills, never knowing if they'll be there or not when it really counts. You always say you don't know who the true me is, well, I'll tell you before you continue on in your confusion. I'm really a coward. I have big dreams, and big determination, but I'm scared to death that as hard as I try, I'll still mess up and I'll fail. Someone like you could never understand that. You're good at everything you try. You never have to worry about whether or not you'll succeed every time. I wish I could be like you."

Sasuke turned to reply, but the moment Megumi was in his view, he saw a blur of motion behind her. Within a split second, the kunai in his hand was sailing past her face and had impaled itself through the head of the striking snake. Megumi's hair still swayed in the breeze caused by his weapon as her face froze in a look of shock.

Sasuke let out a long breath, "Maybe you do need more practice. Pay attention, Megumi."

He watched her turn shakily around to look at the giant twitching snake, but once he resumed walking, she was hurrying along close behind him. It took them another minute of walking silently until they reached the bank of the stream. They had found it at a good spot because there was a small clearing in the surrounding trees, giving them the advantage of being able to see in all directions, plus there were a couple large boulders in the middle for them to use as cover or tent building if it rained. The stream was wide and slow and looked pretty clean.

"We'll camp here," Sasuke declared and walked out to sit on one of the boulders.

Megumi hurried after him, "It's not so bad, I guess."

"Not so bad?" he echoed in disbelief, "This whole test is a joke. It's child's play to camp out for a day and a half. There's no survival involved, we just have to sit around and keep ourselves from dying of boredom."

Megumi didn't answer as she walked in a circle around their boulders then leaned down to inspect the stream. Sasuke folded his arms and followed her with his narrowed eyes.

"Oh," he reached into his pocket and produced a scroll, "Here's your notes."

She caught the scroll and opened it, "Thanks, Sasuke."

"Right," he sighed and began to absentmindedly practice signs with his hands.

Megumi had plenty of studying and reviewing to keep her busy, but what could he do? He supposed a little practice couldn't hurt, but there was really nothing he needed to work on. Twirling a kunai on his finger, he hopped off the boulder and walked over to the stream. He stared into the churning liquid, wondering if there was anything edible that lived there.

"AAHHH!" Megumi's scream snapped him to attention.

The moment he glanced at her, his quick eyes took in the whole scene. She was in mid-fall off the boulder she had been sitting on. Attached to her shoulder was what looked like a gigantic slug. Another of the creatures was in the air, flattening its body and sailing towards Megumi.

The moment after Sasuke saw all this, his hands were already moving. His kunai flew straight into the airborne slug, impaling it to a tree at the edge of the clearing. Megumi had disappeared behind the boulder, but he could still hear her struggling with the parasite. In a couple leaps, Sasuke was at her side. His newly-produced kunai sliced through the slug, and the top half fell to the grass like a hunk of animal fat. The lower half, still attached to Megumi's shoulder, stopped moving and he ripped it off as quickly as he could.

She cried out as he did so, then before he knew it, she had reached behind her head and thrown one of her hair chopsticks over his shoulder. He heard something heavy land on the ground behind him a moment later.

"What _are_ these things?" she held her shoulder, which was now covered in blood.

"Wash yourself off," he instructed and stood up, staring at the treetops all around them.

The creatures were some kind of blood-sucking parasites that could flatten their bodies and glide down silently onto their victims. They were gathered up in the trees somewhere, and there would be no way to know when they might attack. He scowled heavily, then looked down to where Megumi had crawled to the stream's edge and was washing off her wound.

"Take care of yourself for a while," he said out loud, "I'm going to make some traps."

Without waiting for her reply, he ran off into the trees.


	6. Chapter 6

_Late afternoon._

"My parents will kill me," Megumi mumbled to herself as she rubbed medicinal plants on her shoulder.

Sasuke looked at the unsightly wound that the parasite had left behind. It was red and purple with small circular cuts and bumps like a rash. From what he'd heard about Megumi's parents' rules about her appearance, this would definitely warrant trouble for her. He had built traps to prevent further attacks and found her the herbs, but beyond that they'd both just have to be much more wary of their surroundings.

"Speaking of my parents," she continued talking to herself, "I'd better do my home-work."

Again, he glanced at her. It hadn't crossed his mind until now, but how was she going to do a photo shoot out in the middle of the woods with no equipment? Before he could vocalize this question she reached into the pocket on her pants and pulled out a scroll. He watched silently as she unrolled it and pressed it flat on the ground. She did a flurry of hand signs then pressed her palm down on the paper. There was a poof of smoke and then on top of the paper appeared a load of equipment, props, and clothes for her photo shoot.

Sasuke's mouth hung open, "How did you learn that?"

"What do you mean?" she looked up as she began sorting out all the items, "Everyone learned it last year, remember? When we summoned the shuriken from the scrolls?"

"Yes," he admitted, "But we only learned how to summon small things _like_ shuriken, and we never learned how to seal them back in the scrolls. So how did you get all that in there?"

She waited a few seconds after he was done speaking then continued unsurely, "Well, you're right, that's all we learned in class, but I was studying so much that I learned in a book how to do the rest. I thought everyone else already knew how."

"No," he felt a bit jealous for a moment, "Not many shinobi ever get to higher levels of scroll jutsus."

"Really?" he saw an honest excitement in her eyes, "I've always been pretty good at scrolls. Maybe it's my natural talent!"

"Maybe," Sasuke said nonchalantly and turned his back to her, "I'm going to look for firewood."

She didn't reply, but he was already walking away anyway. He felt a little pang of anger somewhere. How could there be something that she was better at than him? He had wanted to help her train during this trip, but there was nothing he could teach her about this. She already knew more than he did! What got him was that she was not good at gathering chakra, yet she could seal and summon from scrolls. There must be some kind of technique she was doing that she wasn't aware of. He would have to work with her a little more on it to find out. This brought an interesting thought to his mind – now she had something she could help him with. It would be a more balanced friendship. Now, not only did he have someone, someone had him. It was a hope that could sustain him after his revenge.

By the time Sasuke returned with an armload of wood, Megumi had her set up running. He saw a couple reflectors and a camera and a rack of clothes. As he drew closer he could see that there were actually two Megumis. One was sitting on the ground, posing, while the other, who had the injured shoulder, snapped pictures.

"Hey, Sasuke," the latter called to him, "Don't mind me, I hope."

He gulped down the lump in his throat and shook his head. Her shadow clone was dressed up in a beautiful dress with her hair and makeup done. He felt awkward being around her like that, so he quietly set to work building the firewood into a good fire formation. He wouldn't need to light it until later in the night, and it was only just becoming evening. In the meantime, he decided to find something for them to eat. Megumi wouldn't eat much, he knew, but he hadn't eaten since breakfast and he was starving.

As he stared into the stream water, he spotted two fish slowly making their way upstream. Fish sounded good. He pulled out a kunai and threw it in at the fish, but the second it hit the water, the current changed the weapon's course and the fish hurried away. Sasuke stared at his weapon, embedded in the stream bottom. How was he supposed to catch these fish? If they were in the water there was no way he could accurately aim at them. Perhaps if he took the current into account when he aimed... He walked further upstream to where the fish had swum to. The sound of Megumi's camera snapped in his ears as he got closer to them, but he kept his eyes on the water. There they were.

The fish were swimming in place again. If he just aimed further up, then the current would push the kunai back onto target. He took out another kunai and measured the distance carefully with his eyes. In one quick motion he threw the weapon into the water where it grazed just to the side of the fish. Before Sasuke could even frown, the frightened fish leapt out of the water. Acting quickly, the young ninja threw another kunai at the airborne fish, which impaled directly through it and sent it flying far to the other side of the bank, where it then flopped around in the dirt.

Sasuke stared at the wiggling fish. It was much easier to hit them when they were in the air, but how would he be able to scare them up? It would be a waste of kunai to do it the way that he just had. He glanced over his shoulder to see what Megumi was up to. The clone was putting her hair back and the injured girl was changing the film in her camera. As he looked at the two of them, he suddenly got an idea.

"Bunshin no jutsu," he said as he did the hand seals, and a moment later a clone appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Scare them up," Sasuke told his clone, who nodded.

The clone peered into the water and sat down, pulling off his shoes, bandages, shirt, and arm cuffs, until he was left in just his shorts. The original Sasuke looked away, unnerved at having to watch himself undress. Out of curiosity, he glanced again at Megumi. The clone was now wearing a new outfit and settling into a pose, but the camera-holding Megumi was gazing at the back of Sasuke's clone. She finally looked away with a self-conscious shake of her head. Sasuke felt a swell of pride warm his chest.

A splash drew his attention back to the stream, where his clone was just diving under the water. Several feet away, a fish flew up out of the water. Sasuke was quick with his kunai and the fish was soon flopping on the opposite shore.

_That evening._

"You're going to eat," Sasuke called to Megumi.

"I know, I know," she was rushing around piling up all of her equipment, "I'm almost done."

Sasuke got up from the fire and shoved his hands in his pockets, then walked over to watch her curiously. She glanced at him but continued her work. Once everything was gathered together, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the scroll that she had used earlier to summon her equipment. Sasuke watched as she walked in a circle, wrapping the scroll once around the diameter of her pile. She found the center, where several lines of kanji were written. Watching closely, Sasuke noticed her take a deep breath then do a slow series of hand signs, then she pressed her fingers onto the lines of kanji. In a flash of smoke, the entire pile disappeared and the scroll fluttered to the ground. Megumi sighed and sat down hard on the ground, then began rolling it back up.

"I don't understand how you can seal objects, but you can't even summon up a handful of chakra," Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "And you sure take a long time to do your hand symbols."

She frowned, "I just don't want to mess up."

"We'll work on that," Sasuke turned around and walked back to the fire, "Come on, let's eat."

He pulled one of the sticks out of the ground and handed it to Megumi as she staggered over to the fire. She sat down and slowly began to nibble at the fish on the end of her stick. Sasuke watched her as he ate his own fish. Her eyes were half-closed and her bangs were hanging over her face instead of tucked behind her ears. On her shoulder, the bruised scar reflected the firelight.

"Hey," he dug in his pocket and pulled out the small handful of remaining herbs, "Keep putting this on your shoulder."

Megumi looked at him for a couple seconds before seeming to focus, "Oh, thanks, Sasuke."

She reached out weakly and took them. It appeared to take more than a normal amount of effort for her to crush the plants in her fist before rubbing them on her shoulder.

Sasuke felt a pang of worry, but decided not to express it, "So what will you do when your parents see it?"

Megumi sighed, "Hopefully I can wear sleeves until it heals. If I have to do an outfit that won't hide it, then I guess I'll have to make a clone."

"Why don't you just do that all the time to get twice the work done?" Sasuke took a bite of fish, "Then your parents might not mind letting you go to school."

"No way," she widened her eyes, "That would _kill_ me! I'm about ready to pass out right now from having used so much chakra today and I only made a clone for a couple hours."

"You should eat," Sasuke suggested.

She took another bite of fish and looked sideways at the ground, "Sorry you had to do all the work today. I'm pretty useless. I'll try to help out more tomorrow."

"I'm sorry I didn't help you train like I said I would," he tried to catch her gaze, but his eyes focused on something just over her shoulder.

"Just now," Megumi suddenly sat up, "I heard something."

Sasuke was watching a pair of eyes in the darkness that glinted from the firelight, "There's something behind you, but don't move, it's not getting any closer."

He glanced down and saw that, like him, she already had a kunai in each hand. Her eyes raised to meet his, then slid sideways.

"There's a lot of them," she whispered, "Man, I hate this forest."

"They must've smelled the fish," Sasuke growled, "Then our firelight led them right to us."

"Do you think they're afraid to come near the fire?" Megumi asked hopefully.

"Lookout!" Sasuke yelled as he saw something leaping at them from their right.

Both he and Megumi leapt high into the air and threw down a rain of kunai, shuriken, and needles. The animals, which looked like dog-sized rats with black fur, shrieked as they were impaled all over with the weapons. Sasuke landed several feet away from the dead rodents, and had to kick away other members of the pack that rushed at him. In the dark, it was only the glint of the fire in their eyes that gave away their location. He slashed and kicked until he could hear the remainder of the shrieking rodents retreat far into the woods.

"Megumi?" he called, once the coast was clear.

He heard a moan and sprinted over to where it had come from. Megumi was lying flat on the ground, surrounded by at least five dead creatures.

"Megumi, are you hurt?" Sasuke knelt down next to her and began wiping blood from her face with his arm warmers.

She smiled, "I did kawarimi no jutsu twice."

Sasuke shook his head with a laugh, "And you thought you had no chakra left."

"Now I don't," she moaned, "And don't worry about the blood. It's theirs. I'm not hurt, just exhausted."

"Come on," he gave her his hand and helped her to her feet.

"Just look at this," she sighed as they approached the fire.

The last fish was nowhere to be found and there was a burning rat laying halfway across their fire. Two others lay dead nearby.

"Disgusting," Sasuke held his nose to keep out the burnt fur smell and he kicked the flaming animal several feet away.

Suddenly Megumi collapsed again onto her butt, "Oof!"

"I think you need sleep," Sasuke stood over her with his hands on his hips, "I'll stay up to keep watch."

"Oh, I'm being useless again," Megumi grimaced and pulled out the needles that held her hair in a bun.

Sasuke watched her hair unravel to the ground, then she tossed it out behind her and laid down on her side facing away from him, clutching a needle in each hand. He scooted closer and spun a kunai on his finger, his keen eyes scanning the surrounding trees. Nothing dared to stir as he watched and gradually he grew tired. He scooted forward and laid back, resting his head in the curve of Megumi's waist. Everything was dark anyway, so he closed his eyes, intending to listen for intruders, but before he knew it, a dream was playing out on the back of his eyelids and he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

_Dawn_.

Sasuke wearily opened his eyes and blinked against the light from the rising sun. He took a moment to organize his thoughts about where he was and what his condition was. A slight rising and falling motion let him know that his head was laying on Megumi's stomach. One of her hands rested near his face, still clutching a needle. He took a deep breath and sat up, letting it out again as his back popped. The motion caused Megumi to stir and her eyes fluttered open.

"Well," Sasuke said when they locked gazes, "Good morning."

Megumi groaned and sat up, "So we made it through the night, huh?"

"See," he stood and walked around, inspecting the condition of their camp, "No problems at all."

He stopped over the dead carcass of one of the rodents they had killed. It was in the process of being hollowed out by bugs. Megumi stepped up beside him, rubbing her shoulder subconsciously and zoning out at the dead rat. Sasuke looked her over. She had put her hair back up in a bun, but her bangs were messy and caked with blood, as were her face, arms, and clothes. Leaves and dirt littered her back and side from sleeping on the ground. He had never seen her look so disheveled, and in fact he imagined she had never even been so disheveled.

"Hey, Sasuke," she suddenly snapped back to reality and smiled over at him, "I'll get breakfast."

He was a bit surprised by her offer, but slowly nodded in consent. She reached down and picked a kunai out of the animal's body, then brushed it off against her pants. Sasuke resisted the urge to raise his eyebrow. Was she getting tougher?

"Hey," he called to her back as she approached the edge of the woods, "Do you want me to come?"

She looked back over her shoulder with a smirk, "I'll be fine. This time I'll pay attention."

Her form disappeared into the shady trees, leaving Sasuke staring after her. Finally he trudged over to the stream and washed off his face and arms. The cold of the water shocked him into a completely awake and alert stage. Shaking off, he looked around again at the campsite and decided to collect all the kunai and needles for reuse.

_A few hours later._

Every blade he had thrown was impaled exactly where he wanted it to be on the tree. He looked from Megumi's target tree to the girl herself. She wore a look of intense concentration and frowned deeper and deeper after every throw. Her wet hair was held back in a ponytail and the rest of her was nearly dry from the dip she had taken after breakfast to clean off. Sasuke still munched on the end of a root that she had retrieved that morning, while he watched her finish throwing the handful of needles that she held. When the last one had left her hand, she let out an exasperated growl and marched toward her tree.

"I'm terrible," she announced and began yanking the needles from the wood.

"Practice will help," he told her simply and walked up to retrieve his weapons as well.

She nodded, "I wish I had the time to practice as much as I need to. Sometimes parents can be such a hindrance, even though they think they're helping."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he stared out into the clearing. Although he had stopped feeling sorry for himself by now, the sound of someone complaining about their parents never ceased to twist a nerve in him. He didn't really remember if he'd ever resented his parents when he was young, but the possibility that he might have, even once for any reason, made him sick.

The long silence was broken by Megumi's gasp, "Sasuke, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking…"

"Hey," he interrupted her coolly, "We agreed: no feeling sorry for me."

"Yeah," she nodded then changed the subject, "Would you mind if we practiced hand signs? Like you said, I need to get faster."

"Good idea," he climbed up onto one of the boulders and situated himself into a cross-legged position.

She sat on the other one and faced him, waiting expectantly for him to do something. He studied her face for a moment, amazed as always at how he was continually learning new things from her, even as he acted as teacher. Until he met her, he was used to being looked at but never looked to. He didn't even know such a thing existed or that it was the one thing that would make him feel more like a person than anything had before.

"What?" she asked and he realized he was still looking at her.

"Just thinking of what jutsu to start with," he answered quickly, "How about replacement jutsu. No chakra, just show me the hand signs."

She did so with a fumbling attempt at speed, then chuckled nervously, "It's difficult when someone is watching so closely. That's why I get so uneasy during tests."

"You ought to be the last person that gets self-conscious while being looked at," he pointed out.

"Well, if it's something I'm bad at…"

"Practice," he ordered, "So you won't be bad at it anymore."

And he began naming off techniques at random, letting her think for a moment before doing the sequence a couple times. As he quizzed her and practiced along with his own hands, he resisted the urge to bring Itachi up in his mind. Whenever he trained, he did so with the sole motivation of killing his brother; he envisioned every move being used in the battle that they were destined to have. Although Megumi was slower, she performed each jutsu with a calm fluidity that starkly contrasted with his intense, knuckle-cracking style. She wasn't doing it with the lethal intentions that he conjured up for himself.

"Why do you work so hard?" he interrupted the quizzing to ask finally, "Why do you want to do this so badly? What is it that drives you to live this kind of life every day?"

"You mean what could it be besides revenge?" she ascertained bluntly, "I suppose I've never even thought about killing anyone, though now that you bring it up, I realize it's something I should take seriously."

"I didn't bring it up," he corrected her.

She ignored that, "Really, I just want to do something outside myself. I hate meaningless attention being on me all the time. What better way to disappear than to become a ninja? What better way to get attention off yourself than by spending your time protecting and helping other people and fighting for something bigger and more important than you? And I wanted to prove to myself that I was up to the challenge, that I could be strong and smart and have useful skills if I worked hard enough for it." She shrugged nonchalantly, "Sorry, Sasuke, it's not nearly as important or interesting as your reasons."

"No, that's fine," he admitted, reluctantly adding, "Those are good reasons. I'd never thought of them before."

"Am I slowing you down?" she suddenly asked, "I can practice on my own if you want, since you probably need to train at your pace."

"Henge," he said and they both did the motions before he continued, "I don't mind going at this pace at all, Megumi. I've never done it before, and it's helping me appreciate the technique a bit more. I see them differently now, somehow. They're kind of fun."

"Sasuke," Megumi suddenly sat up rigid, "There's something in the trees."

He had seen it too, just a moment before she said it. They both turned in the direction that their eyes had caught the movement from. It took a second before they could make out the animal standing frozen in the trees. It was a giant striped tiger, taller than either of them at its shoulders.

"I hate this place," Megumi whispered.

Sasuke felt the lump in his throat relax. He was sure they could handle one tiger if it decided to bother them, but for now it seemed more interested in stalking the woods around their clearing and studying them with wary eyes.

"I wonder why the senseis didn't help us last night," Megumi said, never taking her eyes off the visitor, "We could have been in real danger."

"Maybe they held back because they thought we could handle it," Sasuke offered, "And we did. Shadow clone."

They recited the jutsu with their hands. She had already gotten much quicker, but Sasuke wouldn't waste her time with compliments or encouragement. She would know when she improved enough to satisfy her expectations. Techniques were one thing, but there were other aspects of being a ninja that one couldn't teach. Megumi seemed to have unimpressive instinct and intuition; while someone like him was born with a keener ninja sense than any physical sense. Right now he could feel the creatures around them and gauge the level of danger, while Megumi seemed to just follow them with her eyes.

"How many tigers are there?" he asked her.

"Tigers?" she repeated in surprise, "I only see the one. Where are the others?" she turned her head side to side in search of them.

"Forget your eyes," he instructed, "You must have ninja intuition somewhere in there. You should be able to feel their presence and their intentions, and sense their moves before you ever see or hear them."

Megumi nodded and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to relax her. Sasuke stared at her face and saw the effort. Again, he was annoyed at how such things didn't just come naturally to her, as they did to him and other skilled ninjas. He was about to correct her for using so much energy to do such a simple task, but his own senses went on alert in the back of his mind. At the same moment, Megan gasped and they both leapt from the boulders as a tiger pounced right where they were sitting. Another beast charged in from the other direction, and they dodged its attack. A moment later Sasuke found himself with his back against the rock and two tigers bearing down on him. In a flurry of hand signs he jumped into the air and saw the replacement log get torn to shreds between the animal's teeth. At the highest point of his jump, he spotted Megumi dancing in close and dodging the blows of her attacker. She seemed fine for the moment.

Before he fell, Sasuke flung several kunai at the tigers, but all they did was bounce harmlessly off the thick fur hide and make the animals angrier. They would need bigger weapons – the kind they weren't able to bring on this simple camp-out.

There were four tigers surrounding them now, holding back cautiously after their first attack hadn't gone as expected. Sasuke stood next to Megumi on top of one of the boulders, where they were able to see all around them at the pacing, snarling animals. He felt her move her arm around and glanced down to see her pulling several detonation tags from the rolls of a scroll tucked into a pocket on her leg. She didn't say a word, but Sasuke formed a plan and hoped that it was the same one going through her mind. Megumi wasn't strong or fast, but if one of these beasts were distracted long enough, Sasuke knew she could find the opportunity to pin a tag to it; and an explosion might just make up for the disadvantage that they were at.

Instead of waiting for a tiger to make the first move, Sasuke back-flipped down off the boulder and jumped into the air as soon as his feet made contact with the ground. Two tigers sprang right after him, one of them running beside the boulder and the other jumping cleanly over it. He saw Megumi spin and duck as the two animals passed and then saw that an explosion tag was pinned to each of them by a needle that had pierced through the fur where the larger kunai had only bounced off.

Sasuke continued to distract these two animals, barely keeping out of their reach, and could only hope that Megumi was getting done what she needed to. He noticed a couple more papers stuck into the sides of the tigers and he made sure to keep their attention away from trying to scratch the needles off.

"Sasuke!" he heard her call his name and immediately assumed that she meant to explode the tags.

He could sense her movements separately from the tigers' and could tell where she was going, so he retreated there as well. They both landed back-to-back between the two boulders and, as the shadows of the pouncing animals fell over them, Sasuke covered his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Megumi make a stiff hand sign, and a moment later they were surrounded by the noise of explosions. He actually found himself flinching at the force of them. How had she been able to make tags that powerful? Nobody knew that yet!

They both waited a couple seconds until the rattling sound echoed away and the debris had started to fall, then Sasuke shaded his eyes and stood up to look around. He didn't sense the presence of anything but Megumi and himself anymore, so it seemed like the coast was clear. Sure enough, there was no sign of an entire living tiger left in the clearing, but there were pieces of them here and there as well as the blood and fur that were still raining down from the air. He looked at Megumi, who had stood up as well, and was now looking out over the massacre in shock. Based on her heavy breathing, pulse, and the color of her wide eyes, he could tell she was surging with adrenaline. A bloody mist had formed all over both of them, staining her red and making her look more intense than he had ever seen her. It was far more attractive to him than even her magazine photos had been, and he felt his heart change rhythms as he stared at her and replayed their tandem fight again in his mind.

Her senses were heightened at the moment and his were distracted, so her eyes darted up first at the sudden movement above them. Sasuke finally registered the motion when he noticed Megumi jump towards him and grab the front of his shirt; then he saw the shape above them and calculated his companion's movements in time to jump back with the same force at which Megumi was pulling him. He wrapped one arm around her to steady them both as they landed together on their feet a few yards away from where the severed arm was now colliding with the ground. Sasuke quickly scanned the sky, but there were no more chunks falling near them.

Even though the threat was gone, Megumi still clung to the front of him. She was in shock, he realized, from everything that had gone through her in the past few minutes. Sure, they had battled off pests the night before, but this was her first life-or-death battle; and the victorious aftermath was enough to shake anyone up. She didn't seem back to normal yet, so Sasuke kept his arm protectively around her.

"Hey," he said calmly, "You did pretty good."

Finally, she took a deep breath and he felt all the tension ease out of her as she slumped against him and lay her head on his shoulder.

"Come on," he shrugged to get her to move, "Keep thinking. What do we need to do now?"

She lifted her head and looked around, "We should move. The sound gave away our location. The smell will attract other animals."

"Good," he retracted his arm and she took a step back.

"All that studying was good for something, I guess," she sighed and lifted the front flap of her tunic to wipe her face on it, "Oh my gosh, that was intense. I can't believe I did it."

He just nodded; it wasn't his style to compliment someone twice.

"Sasuke, we made a great team!" she continued, looking up at him with a smile on her blood-smeared face.

Again he nodded silently, unable to think of a good response while his heart faltered at the sight of her smile. When he didn't respond as she expected, Megumi's smile turned into a smirk and she looked away from him.

"All right," she said, "I get that this isn't a big deal to you, but I'm pretty proud of myself. You're right, though, I can't let that distract me – it's bad training. We need to get moving."

Sasuke scanned their surroundings and could sense the approach of curious creatures through the trees. Above them, large birds were starting to circle.

"We should use the water," he decided, "Get in and work our way upstream towards the border. It'll clean us off and erase our scent trail."

"Yes, I was thinking that too," she smiled again.

They walked over and jumped into the stream, side by side, both of them taking an extra moment under water to make sure their faces got rinsed before treading to the surface.

"Let's stay alert," Sasuke pulled out a kunai to keep in his hand, "There are a lot of things heading this way, and we don't know what else lives in this stream."

"Great," Megumi's expression sank and she pulled the needles from her bun, letting her hair flow out into the current behind her.

She ducked her head again and smoothed her bangs back away from her face, which was now clean and a bit pale from the cold water. They swam hard against the current until they reached a stretch where they could stand on the rocky bottom and walk forward with their heads above water. It was quite a workout to move against the current with all their waterlogged clothes in the biting cold, but neither of them said a word of complaint.

At last, after a near-slip before catching herself, Megumi chuckled, "I wonder what the other teams have been doing?"

"Eating," Sasuke guessed with a touch of venom in his voice, since he wasn't fond of anyone else in their class, "Building fires, making shelters, setting booby traps, practicing jutsus…children's tasks."

"I guess so," she sighed, "If you grew up as a ninja."

"What about those tags?" he finally asked, "How did you make them so powerful?"

"They were from the book I studied," she explained, "The inscription is a bit stronger and I used really dense chakra ink. You know, if you use blood and the most detailed inscription, you could blow up a whole mountainside?"

"And a lot of chakra on the hand signs," he added, "Which is what I don't get. You can't mold chakra, yet you can perform jutsus and trigger scrolls and tags."

"Molding it, no," she conceded, "But producing it, I'm fine. For jutsus and scrolls and that kind of thing, you just need a punch of chakra in your hands at the right moment. I can do that, but I'm hopeless at gathering or controlling it. I'll never be able to do any of those chakra-formed attacks that some shinobi specialize in."

"Interesting," he murmured and thought about the options for someone who could only put bursts of chakra into their hands.


	8. Chapter 8

They continued to press on quietly, ducking under every now and then to look for underwater threats and to clear the air of their scent. Sasuke was starting to get very cold and he saw that Megumi was white and shivering, but she had her eyes closed and looked very intense about something. He glanced at her a few more times, but her expression didn't change and her eyes didn't open.

Finally he spoke, "What are you concentrating on?"

Her eyed fluttered open and focused on him in surprise, "Oh, I was just trying to sense everything. It's kind of weird, but I think someone is following us in the trees."

Sasuke frowned, and concentrated for a moment until he felt it too, "You're right. It doesn't seem dangerous, but there is something uneasy about it."

Megumi wrapped her hair back up into a tight bun and stuck the needles through it, then pulled out another needle to carry in her hand. She looked very serious now.

"We've got a few more hours before we have to meet back at the Academy," she said, "And we're getting close to the fence, so I think we should wait out the end of this exam by the border, like we were supposed to."

Sasuke nodded in agreement and followed her up onto the shore, where they both kept a wary eye out for danger as they trudged along, shivering and dripping. At last, they found a pebbly stretch of embankment, with no foliage hanging over it. Megumi walked to the nearest tree and started picking up the dead branches from the ground. She piled them up on the stones while Sasuke laid out his wet shoes, arm warmers, and shirt nearby. Megumi suddenly took great care not to look at him, and he even saw a bit of blush paint her cheeks. When the firewood pile was complete, she took off her shoes and gloves and knelt down, feeling around in her pockets, most likely for flint.

"Hey, back up for a second," Sasuke ordered, and she did so, watching him with interest.

He knew he was doing this almost entirely to impress her, and he hoped it would result in a better reaction than when he had finally perfected it for his father. He did some hand-signs and pinched his fingers in front of his lips.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

A sudden stream of fire roared from his mouth, directed through his fingers into the pile of wood, igniting the branches instantly. Once the light had cleared from his eyes, he saw that Megumi was now on her butt, several feet away from where she had been standing before, and staring at him with wide eyes. It was a reaction good enough to make him smile.

"Sasuke, that was incredible," she hopped up onto her feet and trotted over to warm herself by the blaze, "I can't believe you could do that the whole time, and yet we had to make fires and fight animals the hard way all along. How annoying!"

He laughed. This was what he liked about her. Any other person he knew would have gushed and flattered him, or rolled their eyes and resented him all the more. The person he most sought approval from had barely acknowledged him at all, but Megumi knew just the right balance without even trying.

"It's a specialty of my clan," he explained.

"All Uchihas can do it?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Could," he corrected, "I am 'all Uchihas' now. But before, yes, they could all do it."

"Oh, yeah," she shook her head and looked down, "I'm sorry. But that's great, that you're carrying on the clan tradition, and you can teach your children and start it all over again."

The sentiment caught him off guard. He had never thought about having children, or starting a family. "Family" was a foul word to him, until these first notions of making his own crept through his mind. Perhaps he had always assumed he would die before he got the chance to have kids, but now the idea was there and he would have to mull over it later.

"I don't know if I'll have a family," he admitted, not daring to look up at her now as they danced through sensitive topics, "I wasn't too impressed with mine."

"But you're the last of a great clan, Sasuke," Megumi sounded very concerned about it, to his surprise, "It would be a tragedy worse than what already happened, to let the name and abilities end with you. You owe it to all your ancestors and the shinobi world to keep the Uchiha clan going. We need your family."

"How unfortunate that it should be me left," he snorted and self-consciously rubbed his bare arms and sides, staring at the fire as he spoke, "I was never the pride of our family. I was always in his shadow. Nothing I did was acknowledged because he had always done it faster and better. So now second-best is the last great hope of our clan?"

"You'll kill him," she said confidently, causing him to look up and see the conviction in her eyes, "And then you'll know that you are the best. He doesn't deserve to be the last Uchiha, and your ancestors won't allow it. The legacy is meant for you, I'm sure of it, and that's why you won't fail."

Normally, he hated talking about his family, and he didn't trust anyone who tried to draw him into such a discussion, but Sasuke had never felt so comforted by the sincere passion of someone before. He didn't stop her as she ranted on.

"I don't know everything," she admitted, "But I've read enough about the history of our country to know how important your clan was, and what a great loss we've suffered. I can't tell you how often I've wished that I were born into a great shinobi clan, instead of some stupid civilian family. So many of our classmates have these amazing abilities and heritage, and don't even realize how lucky they are for it. I wish I had anything like that. And when something happens to one of these amazing clans, like what happened to yours, it just makes me so frustrated. How could your brother not appreciate what he had? I'd want to kill him too, if I weren't so inferior. And what if you decide not to get married and have children and rebuild the Uchiha clan? How could you do that?"

Sasuke watched in amazement as the tears glistened in her eyes, "I'm sorry, Megumi, I never thought about it the way you do. I considered revenge my only service to my clan. Maybe I've never assumed that I would live through that, because until recently, I never even thought about what I would do after I killed Itachi."

"You should start thinking about it," she looked away and wiped her eyes discreetly, "I know you're going to be successful, so you need to realize you'll have a life after revenge."

"I appreciate your confidence," he felt a lot warmer now, "Revenge was the only thing I was clinging to. For me there was nothing after that, but now I'm starting to think about what I want to hold onto that will sustain me beyond that point."

"If we're still friends, then I'll be there," she offered, "And hopefully you'll have a family too."

He nodded, "Hopefully we'll still be friends. But I just don't know about kids. I don't know if I'd be a good father. Mine wasn't always the best example."

"Just be everything to your children that you wished he was to you," she said, "Acknowledge them and encourage them equally and unconditionally."

"Yeah," Sasuke tried to imagine the pride he would feel when his own son successfully learned the Katon jutsu, "You know I practiced and practiced that Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu for weeks before getting it perfect enough to show my father. When I finally did it for him, he couldn't even remark on it without mentioning my brother. I had been so proud of myself, and then I just felt worthless in the end."

"That's awful," Megumi said quietly, "And my parents won't even acknowledge any of the training that I work so hard on. They don't even want to see it. In fact they criticize it more than anything."

Sasuke saw how frustrated she was again and exclaimed eagerly, "Well, forget your parents and forget mine. We're both starting over here. I'm the new beginning of the Uchiha clan and you're the beginning of a brand new clan that might someday be just as powerful and famous."

Finally, she laughed, "I'd have to have exceptional abilities for that, Sasuke, but thanks for trying. As long as I prove useful and can survive all my missions - that will be satisfying enough for a commoner like me."

He chuckled, and they both fell silent for a while. Sasuke thought about how comfortable he felt, even in the middle of something as reckless as a Forest of Death campout. His resolve and confidence were unwavering as well, after Megumi's strong words. There was no doubt he wanted her by his side as much as possible, and that she would be his anchor after the revenge. If she was going to stick with him, though, she would need to be far tougher. She was on her way, but she still needed some kind of special ability. Sasuke decided it would be a good idea to encourage her pursuit of mastering scroll jutsus.

"You know," he broke the long silence, "If you're already as good as you are at scroll and tag jutsus, you could be exceptional with a little more time and focus."

"I'd like to be exceptional at something besides memorizing notes," she smirked, "I'll check out some more books on it the next chance I get."

"And about your chakra," he continued, "I've been thinking that you could incorporate these bursts into genjutsu, to make you stronger."

"What do you mean?" she tilted her head.

"You said you put a punch of chakra into your hands to perform seals," he pointed out, "Well, try doing the same punch of chakra during an actual punch, or see if you can channel it through your feet for kicks."

"Oh!" she nodded, her eyes wide, "That's a great idea! I'll practice that. Thanks, Sasuke."

They both reached down to rotate their drying belongings, then Megumi pulled out a small scroll from her pocket and shook the water off of it. She knelt down and unrolled it, then did a couple hand seals. With a snapping sound, a wooden box appeared on top of the paper. She picked it up and walked over to Sasuke, pulling off the lid and holding it out to him.

"I made these as a kind of celebration treat for when we got to the end of the exam," she admitted with a shy smile.

Sasuke saw that the box was full of steaming pork buns, and he reached in and took a couple, "Thanks."

He sat down and she sat next to him with the box in the middle. As she slowly ate one bun, he munched through three, and they both stared at the fire and listened to the forest around them, in case any creatures caught a whiff of the food. That odd presence was still nearby, but remained non-threatening. He could tell from the sun that they had a little over an hour before sunset, which was the meeting time for all the students back at the Academy. It would take them both less than an hour to walk back, so they still had a little time left to waste before starting out.

When her single bun was finished, Megumi sighed and pulled out the needles from her hair, letting it fall down her back. She turned around to face away from the fire so that her hair would dry, then pulled out a scroll and started studying some notes. It was like lunch break all of a sudden. Sasuke's eyes drifted to the tree line where there was some motion in the grass, and he saw a curious snake inching in their direction. He glanced back at Megumi, who suddenly looked up from her notes with a furrowed brow and spun her head around.

"Oh!" she cried when she saw the snake, now steadily approaching their camp and gathering its hind coils for a spring.

"Wow," Sasuke smirked at her, "You sensed that even while distracted with studying?"

"I've been working on my senses," she said quickly as she sprang to her feet, knocking over the box with the remaining bun.

"And your reflexes?" he asked calmly, even as he leapt out of the way of the snake's first strike.

It landed in another coil and sprang almost immediately in Megumi's direction, but she jumped backwards just in time and stumbled further as it continued to snap at her. Her teeth were bared in an uncomfortable grimace and she let out little squeals every time the creature lunged at her, even though she was counter-attacking with a needle when it got close enough. The snake hissed and frothed from all the cuts along its head and upper body. Sasuke watched the battle closely, kunai in hand in case Megumi lost control of the situation. After another severe cut, the serpent recoiled in on itself and began to spasm. The girl's hands moved quickly to launch a barrage of needles at the now-stationary target. Pinned to the ground in several places, all the reptile could do was writhe and coil. Megumi let out a whining sigh, then stood up straight and shot Sasuke a death glare.

"Thanks for the help," she snapped sarcastically.

"I thought you wanted to test yourself," he pointed out, trying hard to hide a wicked grin.

"I'll do that on my own time," she growled, "We're supposed to be partners right now."

"Hey, that was nothing compared to the tigers this morning," he shrugged.

"You had my back then," she walked over to him and stood intimidatingly close, "And that's different. Tigers are bad enough, but I _hate_ snakes. Hate, hate, _hate_ them!"

With that, her body shivered violently and she clenched up.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he reached out and rubbed his hands up and down her goosebump-covered arms, "I just thought you'd have no trouble handling this one. I didn't know snakes were such a problem."

She took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles with the exhale, then said quietly, "Well, now you know."

"You still did it, though," he slowed his hands.

"Yeah, I did," she admitted, avoiding eye-contact.

"You're better than you think," Sasuke declared, "You didn't need me."

At this, she finally looked him in the eye, "I still need you."

His hands stopped on her shoulder and he saw a minute wince flash across her face, then noticed the ugly bruise beneath his fingers. She was still going to have to think of a way to hide this from her parents.

"Snake oil," he suddenly declared, "It will help your bruise."

He let go of her shoulders and walked over to where the dead snake was still slowly twisting. Pulling out a kunai, he slid the edge slightly into a section of the belly and shaved off a long strip of skin. Immediately, oil began to ooze from the inner half, and he carried it over to Megumi. She looked angry enough to protest, but he knew that she was just as aware of the oil's healing properties as he was. Reluctantly, she took the kunai from his hand and scraped it along the seeping skin as he held it out, then she used the flat edge of the weapon to slather the oil on her shoulder.

"I am glad to know that I can handle these kinds of things," she finally said, "Thanks for trusting me and helping me with my confidence. I feel completely different than I did before we started this exam. I really believe I can do it now."

"That's good," he smirked, "Your nervous attitude really used to bug me."

"Oh, shut up, genius," she rolled her eyes and handed back his kunai, "And when are you going to do something about that doom-and-gloom attitude that bugs _me_ so much?"

"Well, maybe this exam helped with that a little too," he admitted, and knew deep down that he really did feel changed by all the new thoughts she had presented him with.

"Good," she put her hands on her hips, "I call it a success then, as long as we get back without losing any points."

"Let's get out of here, then," Sasuke walked over to his belongings and put his dry shirt, shoes, and arm warmers back on.

"We need to cover our tracks at this site," Megumi reminded, while bending down to clean up the bento box and reacquire her shoes and gloves, "I'm sure that's part of the test, and we didn't exactly do it at our last camp site."

He nodded, and started on the dirty work of pulling out her needles and tossing the snake carcass into the fire, which hissed and boiled suddenly with blue flames. They both looked surprised at the effects of the oily body on the fire, and looked immediately to Megumi's shoulder, which was still shiny and red, but at least the dark purple spots had faded. She re-sealed the box and put the scroll away along with the needles Sasuke had retrieved, then they stood and waited for the fire to die down a bit. Megumi twisted her damp hair back up.

"Thanks again for the snack," Sasuke said, wishing that last bun hadn't been wasted.

"Of course," she shrugged, "Just a little treat to mark our first successful team mission."

"I doubt they'll assign us to the same team," he replied without really thinking about it.

"Probably not," she chuckled, "Can't have both the anti-social smart people on the same team."

He frowned. Now that he thought about it, they probably weren't going to be together after graduation. He would be stuck on a team with two people he couldn't stand, most likely including someone from the bottom of the class to balance out his advanced skills. Megumi would be in the same situation. He didn't like this prospect at all, but couldn't see any way around it. They were doomed to be separated in a few short weeks.

"I wonder who they'll put you with," she continued, "Probably someone really lazy, to even things out. Choji? Shikamaru? And which girl will be the lucky pick? Ino? Sakura?"

He growled and started throwing the flaming logs into the stream one by one, "It's going to be bothersome, no matter who it is. What about your team? Maybe you'll get that pervert, Naruto."

"Ugh," she grunted, helping throw logs now too, "Actually, I don't know what I'll do about graduation. My parents have already said I'm not allowed to pursue shinobi practices any further than that. How am I going to tell them that this is my life from now on?"

Sasuke shook his head, "Well, you better think of a way. It would be stupid for you to quit now. You're going to make a good ninja."

"I'll quit if they put me on a team with Kiba," she joked, "I can't stand dogs."

This made Sasuke recall the Uchiha ninja cats fondly. It had been a long time since he had seen them, or since he had had any contact with the old family friends. If he ever did have children, he would definitely have to take them to visit the cats.

"There," Megumi declared, as she kicked rocks over the last of the fire's embers.

Using their feet, the two children smoothed out the pebbles until there was no indication that anyone had ever disturbed this spot. They found the fence nearby and leapt over smoothly, landing on the other side with a welcome sense of relief. They still had enough time to walk casually in order to arrive on time. For the most part, they were each lost in their own world, like usual, and walked in silence. Megumi quietly practiced hand seals and kept looking at her shoulder nervously.

As they neared the academy, they could see other student teams converging on it as well. When Iruka-sensei spotted them, his expression changed and he ran to meet them.

"Where have you two been?!" he cried, "We've had chuunin circling the entire Forest and couldn't find you anywhere along the border."

"Sorry, Sensei," Megumi bowed apologetically, "We moved a little further in, or maybe a lot."

"Into the Forest of Death?" he gasped, a small crowd now forming around them, "Why would you move further in?!"

"We found a better spot," Sasuke said flatly, glaring out at the teacher, "You should have been able to find us."

"It wasn't _that_ far," Megumi added.

"You could have been killed without us watching over you," he scolded.

"Apparently not," Sasuke replied.

"So you're all right?" Iruka looked back and forth between them, then noticed Megumi's shoulder, "Do you need to see a medic?"

Ino started laughing, "Yeah, _that's _attractive."

"It's fine," Megumi covered up the fading bruise with her hand, "I don't need anything."

Sasuke shot their giggling classmates a death glare, and shoved his hands in his pockets impatiently, "Look, we made it just fine. Can't we just get our grade?"

"Well," Iruka hesitated, "Nobody was there to-"

"These two pass," another voice said, and everyone turned to see Mizuki-sensei strolling up to the group, "I had my eye on them."

Iruka looked surprised to see him, "So _that's_ where you were, Mizuki. And you say they passed?"

"With highest marks, as expected," he gave the kids a smile that made their classmates groan with jealousy, but left them a bit uncomfortable.

"Very well," Iruka sighed and wrote something down on his clipboard.

Suddenly, there was a commotion further off and everyone turned to see the last two students running out of the trees. It was Naruto and Shikamaru, both covered in bloody scratches and dirty bandages, their clothes full of stickers and leaves, and a wild boar chasing right at their heels. Everyone started laughing and Iruka immediately ran over to assist. Most of the class hurried to follow him. Some of the girls stayed and bombarded Sasuke with questions and tales about their own survival highlights.

"Did you have fun?" he heard Sakura ask Megumi sarcastically.

Without replying, she tried to start walking away, but Ino blocked her path, "Poor Sasuke, having to look at this wreck all day. You're a dirty mess."

"Come on, now," Megumi gritted her teeth, "What good is going to come from insulting me? What do you gain from that?"

"Hopefully _you_'ll gain a bit of humility," Sakura crossed her arms, "And stop acting like you're so much better than everyone."

"You both know that isn't true," she replied and tried again to walk away.

This time Mizuki swooped in and put an arm around her, guiding her away from her classmates. Sasuke couldn't hear what he was saying to her, but he didn't like the way the teacher's fingers were moving across his friend's back. Ignoring the admirers around him, Sasuke pushed past the lingering boys that were watching Megumi walk away. He wasn't the only one that had his eye on her, but he was the only one she talked to, and he hoped to keep it that way for at least a little longer.

"Excuse me, Sensei," he butted into private conversation that the pair were having.

"Yes, Sasuke?" Mizuki looked a little annoyed.

"Iruka-sensei needs your help," he lied, "And I'm supposed to walk Megumi home."

"I see," the teacher said and gave Megumi a meaningful look, "Very well, then."

After they had walked some distance from the school, she sighed, "Thanks."

"What was that about?" Sasuke frowned.

"He said he was watching us, and saw a few things I need to work on," she sounded disappointed, "He was starting to offer to help me personally, but something just feels weird about it."

"I don't trust him," Sasuke felt a swell of protective instinct in his chest, "I'm sure that was him we sensed in the forest now, and I didn't like it then either."

"Then it's not just me," Megumi affirmed. It was quiet for a minute, then she chuckled, "You know I can take care of myself now. You don't have to walk me home."

"I know you can," he shrugged, "I'm just bored."

Really, he was just beginning to realize that he wasn't going to see her for two days over the weekend. After being around her non-stop for a day and a half, he was having a hard time accepting the idea of separation now. As she led the way, he was surprised to find that they lived in the same part of town. Of course, her family was wealthy and he was the sole heir of an entire clan's worth, so they both could afford places in the upper-class section of the Konoha.

"Where do you live, Sasuke?" she asked, apparently thinking about the same thing.

"In the Matsu apartment complex on Shinji Street," he liked the surprised expression she made in response.

"Well, that's not too far from me," she revealed, "My house is right around the corner here."

They came to a stop in front of an elaborate door built into a high solid wall, over the top of which Sasuke could see the peaks of many trees and the roof of a house. Megumi glanced at her shoulder and bit her lip nervously.

"It looks a lot better," Sasuke offered.

"They'll still notice," she mumbled, "I think I'll sneak in and take a shower and go to bed before they notice. Hopefully it'll be gone by morning."

"Good luck," he said, and an awkward silence followed, though neither of them turned to leave.

Megumi rocked forward slightly, as if she were going to step closer, then changed her mind. It made Sasuke's heart jump in anticipation, then disappointment.

"Well," she chuckled nervously, staring at the ground, "Thanks for helping me out on the exam. See you Monday, I guess."

"Right," he said coldly. He resented this parting so much, and dealt with it the way he did everything that threatened to upset him – he retracted his feelings beneath a cold shell.

"Good night," Megumi finally looked up and smiled at him, showing that she was aware of his act and wasn't really bothered by it.

In the next moment, she had leapt up onto the top of the wall and disappeared. Sasuke shoved his hands further into his pockets, spun on his heels, and started walking towards his own street with a scowl on his face that kept anyone from greeting him as they passed. This lonely walk and the hollowness of the empty apartment he returned to were all too familiar to him. In an attempt to disrupt the silence in the room, he turned on a small water fountain, and it reminded him of the creek they had camped by.

Sasuke threw his dirty clothes into a hamper and filled up the bathtub with hot water and salts. Finally, he felt relaxed and comfortable submerged in the tub, and tried to clear his head. He would readjust to the solitude, he knew, but the difficulty surprised him. It had been many years since he had spent a significant amount of time in someone else's presence and actually enjoyed it, so this was just another interesting challenge for him to overcome.

After the massacre, Sasuke had refused to go back to live in the Uchiha estate, and spent a few months moving around between foster homes. He hated all of them, so the elders of the city allowed him to live in his own apartment. At first, a few well-meaning adults would visit him frequently just to check in or spend the night until he adjusted. Since then, though, he hadn't spent a night with anybody. He never had friends over or stayed at anyone else's house, and the only time he was even around other people for extended amounts of time was at school, where he still tried to interact as little as possible. It was odd for him to find someone whose company he craved, even if they did only spend an hour together only on school days and barely spoke. Nothing had ever felt as good as having that person near him for an entire day and a half; knowing that at every moment, there was someone there listening and being involved if he needed it. Now he could say or do anything in this empty apartment and nobody would know or care or come to his aid. He missed having such a companion nearby.

After graduation, though, he would be on a team with two of his classmates, and would probably be spending multiple days in a row with them while they were on missions. This solitude that he was now questioning would be over soon enough, but he doubted that he would find the same kind of comfort with a team as he found with Megumi. Still, this experience had taught him the potential benefits of having comrades, and he looked forward to it with slightly less dread than he had up till now.

Although he liked opening up with her, he didn't think he would be able to explain this new revelation to her. She had a family, so she had never spent a night alone, and probably wouldn't be able to relate.

Feeling clean and relaxed at last, Sasuke got out of the bath, ate a hastily-prepared dinner, and went to bed. His breath caught as he remembered the previous night and the comfort of feeling her warmth beneath his head. Burying his face into his pillow, he tried to stifle any further thoughts of her as he fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

_A week and a half later – lunch time._

"You really ought to eat before this," Sasuke muttered as he watched Megumi pace back and forth across the attic.

"I think I would throw up if I tried," she returned in a shaky voice, and wiped her palms on her pants.

"Are you _sweating_?" Sasuke laughed, having gotten much better at it now.

She didn't answer or even look at him.

"Do you want to practice?" he offered.

"What good will that do, unless I'm fighting you?" she said bewilderedly, "I _wish_ I were fighting you – at least I know you wouldn't humiliate me."

"You don't think so?" he smirked.

Finally, she laughed and stood still, "Well, I'd be humiliated, but you wouldn't do it on purpose. No, they always match up girls against each other, and almost all of them hate me because I talk to you."

He raised an eyebrow, "Maybe they'll have me fight one of _your_ admirers, and then we'll be even."

"I don't think teachers are allowed to participate in the sparring exam," she said sarcastically, and they both laughed, picturing the same person.

Ever since the survival exam, Mizuki-Sensei had pulled Megumi aside multiple times to give her advice or praise. Sasuke had only noticed it a little bit, but she confided that it happened often when he wasn't around. The constant scrutiny, even though he was never harshly critical, made the poor girl nearly tremble with self-consciousness every time she answered a question in class or practiced techniques during free time. When Sasuke had asked why she was so nervous all of a sudden, she told him about the teacher's new level of unwelcome attention. He made a joke of it, teasing Megumi about seeing older men, so that she would take it a little more lightly; but in the back of his mind, he decided to keep a closer eye on Mizuki. For her part, the joke had worked and she stopped taking the critiques to heart; so they enjoyed a few carefree lunch breaks of talking and laughing.

In fact, ever since the survival exam, their lunch hours had been far more lively. Before, they would share the space and talk when they needed to, but most of the time they were doing their own thing. Now, Sasuke was always helping her study and she was always bringing him extravagant lunches. Since she felt more confident, Megumi had even spent a few breaks just talking with him about life rather than studying. Everything felt so comfortable and natural, and Sasuke hadn't known that state of mind in a long time.

During class and in public was a different story. Distanced from their classmates for various reasons, they each adopted the role of loaner separately. They sat far apart, didn't make eye contact often, and never walked anywhere together. Although he was more used to this solitary existence, Sasuke enjoyed acting like friends far better; and he found himself living for lunch time.

Today was the beginning of the end of that enjoyable time, though. Final exams were upon them, and in only a few short days they would be graduating. Sasuke currently had the highest grade in class and was sure the final exams weren't going to change that. If it weren't for all the reviewing he was doing with Megumi, he probably wouldn't have studied at all. Today's exam wasn't one that could really be studied for, however. It was a sparring match, pitting random classmates against each other in a five minute battle of submission. Even the loser of the fight would pass the exam if they put up a good effort, so there was really nothing to worry about. Still, Megumi had worked herself into a panic over it.

"You know each of the girls' special moves, right?" he checked, "So no matter which one you fight, you know what to expect."

"Pretty much," she conceded, "I don't think there'll be any surprises…from them anyway."

"And from you?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve that nobody's seen yet," she rubbed her hands together, "Things I've been working on by myself."

"Oh, yeah?" his interest perked, "Like what?"

"No," she shook her finger at him, "You can be surprised too, though you might guess, since you were the one who suggested it; but now I'll shut up before I give it away."

Sasuke thought back, but couldn't remember giving her any specific fighting tips. They'd been so busy studying notes and practicing jutsus, they never really worked out together.

Finally, Megumi sat down in front of him and started munching on a slice of apple. He nodded his approval. At least she seemed calmed down a bit now. He glanced at the strips of light on the floor that the vent was casting. Lunch was almost over, and Sasuke felt annoyed that the time had flown so quickly. It would be a whole day before he would get to relax and be himself again.

"Time to go," he said reluctantly and started packing up his things.

The color left Megumi's face and her hands trembled as they packed everything back into her bag. She took a deep breath, and headed towards the vent, but paused and turned back to him with a smile.

"I know you don't need it, Sasuke, but good luck."

"Good luck to you too," he returned, "I'll be cheering for you. Quietly."

At this she chuckled, then swung aside the vent and jumped through. As usual, he waited a good 15 seconds before exiting the attic, himself. He bounded through tree branches until he reached one of the obscure exits on the main academy building and slipped in that way. Megumi was already in her seat by the wall, staring at her notes and running through seals with her hands. Sasuke slipped into his seat in the middle of the room and slouched forward, zoning out until the teacher called for their attention. Kurenai-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were standing behind Iruka-sensei holding clipboards, and behind them were two medic ninjas.

"All right!" Iruka shouted and everyone quieted down to listen, "We're going to head over to the gymnasium arena for this exam. Everyone, bring your backpacks with you and follow me."

The class stood up and began murmuring excitedly as they followed the teachers out the door and towards the gym. Sasuke founds himself getting a lot of resentful looks from other boys in his class. Nobody wanted to be the unlucky student that had to fight him. In particular, Naruto brushed past him roughly and turned to give him a challenging glare. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in return, but didn't make a move. He was not likely to be pitted against the worst ninja in their class, so it would be a waste of time to play along.

When they reached the gymnasium, they gathered behind a line on one side while Mizuki and Kurenai took their places as judges. Sasuke looked over to where Megumi was standing, nervously wiping her hands on her pants and kindly humoring a couple boys that were trying to talk to her. She looked pale again.

"Let's not waste any time," Iruka stepped out in front of the group, "You all know the rules. This is an exam, not a real battle, so no weapons allowed – only jutsus. Try to bring your opponent to a point of submission while inflicting as little injury as possible. We do have medics standing by, just in case. Each match will last 5 minutes. I will blow the whistle when I feel submission has been achieved or at the end of the time limit. Your grades will be posted tomorrow morning. Everyone clear?"

A chorus of affirmative replies went up from the class.

"Then, let's begin," he looked up at the digital sign and it began cycling through names rapidly, finally stopping on two.

The two students stepped forwards as their friends cheered them on, and everyone began making predictions. So it went for two battles, until Sasuke's own name flashed across the board. He stepped forward along with the unlucky boy that was to be his opponent. It was Moriki, a pretty average student with a lot of friends, but no exceptional skills. All the other students erupted into cheers, most of the girls screaming Sasuke's name and most of the boys shouting encouragement to Moriki. Sasuke found Megumi's face in the crowd, and she forgot her nerves momentarily to offer him a simple smile. There was something sympathetic in her eyes, though, and he knew what she was thinking. She wanted him to go easy on their classmate, at least to give him a chance to earn his grade. Normally, this wouldn't have crossed Sasuke's mind, and he would have just gotten it over with as quickly and efficiently as possible so that he could get out of there. Though now, after watching his friend struggle with anxiety and self-doubt, he was able to look upon this nervous boy with a more understanding heart.

"Begin!" Iruka called.

Sasuke didn't get into any kind of stance; he just looked at Moriki expectantly, giving him a chance to make a free move. The crowd erupted into screams, but the fighters didn't budge. Sasuke was growing impatient. His opponent was obviously afraid to get too close, but someone had to make a first move or they would both fail for standing around for 5 minutes. With an annoyed sigh, Sasuke lifted his arms into a fighting position and ran towards Moriki.

He started off with a simple attack that woke the other boy up and got him moving. After a quick exchange of blows and blocks, Moriki jumped away and started doing some hand signs. When he landed, there were three of him. Two ran forward to attack Sasuke, and the third blurred and disappeared. Sasuke could sense that the two attackers were illusions, and he disposed of them with a fire jutsu before they even reached him. The crowd shrieked wildly. He couldn't help the grin that pulled at the corners of his mouth. It was actually more fun this way, to hold back and get a good fight out of his opponent. Looking around, he saw no sign of the original Moriki, but a sensation from above alerted him just in time to do a replacement jutsu and slide sideways right as the boy's attack crashed down onto the log that had taken his place. Sasuke waited for him to recover and get back into a defensive position before attacking. Between fighting moves, he stealthily performed the seals necessary to create a clone that appeared right behind Moriki. As the boy valiantly defended against Sasuke's attack, he was pushed unsuspectingly backwards, right into the clone, which had no trouble putting the surprised fighter into an arm lock. No amount of struggling could free Moriki; and after a count to 10 by Iruka, the whistle blew and Sasuke's clone released his prisoner and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Both boys returned to the sidelines, where Sasuke was surrounded by gushing girls and Moriki received many pats on the back. They exchanged glances briefly and Sasuke could see the relief in Moriki's eyes and the gratitude for not humiliating him completely. He did feel good about taking the fight in the direction that he had. With the fate of being assigned to a team looming over him, he knew the days of thinking only about himself were over. This had been a good exercise in understanding another person's point of view and working together to achieve a mutual goal. He had gotten a taste of this by helping Megumi, but it was different because he cared about her. Now he needed to be able to do the same for classmates he didn't care as much about. Moriki seemed to appreciate the effort, and Sasuke decided he wouldn't mind being on a team with the other boy, if that's how things turned out.

Finally he sought out Megumi's face, hoping to find that his efforts had won her approval. She was distracted by the display board, though, and was anxiously watching for it to name the next two fighters. Sasuke looked up at it as well, and could feel his own heart leap when Megumi's name started flashing right below Ino's. This would be interesting. He immediately looked back to his friend's face, and saw the look of panic upon realizing that it was her turn and then a stern expression replaced it when she realized who her opponent was. She took a deep breath and stepped out into the arena, looking more determined than nervous now. Ino looked quite eager as well as she trotted into the fighting space. The latter girl flashed Sasuke a pretentious wink, but Megumi didn't even break her focus to bother looking at him. He was proud of her control and excited to see what she would do in this no-holding-back match.

"Begin!" Iruka-sensei yelled, and the crowd was strangely quiet as they watched.

Ino made the first move, springing immediately toward Megumi, who moved out of the way, rather than engage her. Ino was the only one who didn't notice the tag stuck to her back a moment later; but Megumi didn't activate it yet, whatever it was. Ino growled in response to the dodge and whirled on Megumi again, this time summoning two clones that appeared behind the taller girl. Megumi looked over her shoulder at them and quickly produced a small smoke bomb from her pocket. Sasuke found himself getting anxious as the fight was obscured from their view. Ino stood back, waiting for her clones to do the work.

It took several seconds for the smoke to clear, and when it did, Sasuke's blood rushed to his head in anger. One of Ino's clones had Megumi in a very painful-looking hold. The other clone was backing up to stand next to the original girl and watch victoriously. Ino smiled smugly as Iruka began the count. Megumi was crying out from the arm twist, but the clone didn't let up. Sasuke clenched his fists in anger and resisted the urge to run out and save Megumi from the pain she was in. Part of him felt stung with disappointment in her too, since he knew she was better than this.

Suddenly, as Iruka-sensei's count reached 5, the clone standing nearest to Ino turned and punched her right in the jaw. It wasn't just a thorough blow, it was an explosive one. Ino was knocked back through the air and tumbled across the floor for several meters. Meanwhile, the clone transformed into Megumi and the girl who had been locked in a painful twist disappeared with a puff of smoke. The Ino clone that had been holding her looked stunned for a second, but that was all the time it took for Megumi to spring with inhuman speed in that direction and drive her elbow straight through the clone's face, snuffing out her existence into a vapor. Megumi spun as she skidded to a stop and faced her real opponent, who was now clutching her face in shock and anger. She paused just long enough for Ino to understand what kind of a situation she was in now, then she burst towards her with such speed that it was all Ino could do to roll out of the way as Megumi's fist came down. Upon missing the girl, her fist shattered through the wood of the gymnasium floor instead. Classmates were screaming, and Sasuke's eyes were wide as he observed these new abilities from his friend. He remembered now the suggestion he had given her about putting a punch of chakra into her taijutsu, but he had no idea she had been practicing it.

"You freak!" Ino cried, as she scooted back, "What's wrong with you?!"

"Get up and fight," Megumi commanded, rocking into a defensive position.

Ino scrambled to her feet and stared at her opponent in rage and confusion, but neither of them moved. Sasuke's heart was pounding in anticipation. Finally, Ino began doing a flurry of hand signs. Megumi reacted quickly with a series of seals as well, and it was a race to see who would finish their jutsu first. It appeared Ino was preparing for her mind-transfer justu and her hands were lifted into the aiming position when Megumi at last completed her signs. Ino suddenly froze and Megumi's body seemed to relax into a slump, and everyone wondered if the mind transfer had taken place. It was dead silent as the class waited to see what was going on.

Megumi stood up straight and sighed, then glanced at Iruka, "Are you going to start counting?"

Iruka looked just as confused as everyone else, still unsure if Ino's transfer jutsu was in effect or not.

"What did you do?" Ino growled, through her unmoving mouth, hands still frozen in the aiming position.

"I activated the paralyzing tag on your back," Megumi answered calmly, glancing again at their teacher, "You won't be able to move until I release it, so someone may as well start counting."

"Oh, uh…1…" Iruka fumbled to begin the countdown now that he understood what was going on.

The victorious girl bent over to brace herself with her hands on her knees and closed her eyes, smiling bewilderedly. Sasuke could tell she was more tired than relieved at this point. She had used a lot of chakra, and that was something she wasn't normally very good at.

"…9…10," the teacher finished the count and blew the whistle.

Megumi straightened back up and did a quick couple of hand signs, then Ino immediately regained mobility. She dropped her hands and stormed out of the fighting area. Megumi bowed slightly to the teachers, then slowly left the floor as well, keeping her head down almost as if she were embarrassed.

Iruka's voice rose over the growing murmurs from the class, "We'll have to reset the floor, so everyone take a quick break. If your match is over, you are free to go home."


	10. Chapter 10

The class started forming into cliques of students heading different directions for the break; and as soon as Sasuke had picked up his backpack and waded through the crowd around him, he made for the door. Megumi was headed in the same direction, but she was politely trying to acknowledge the classmates that crowded around her, so it was slow going. Rather than wait for her and get surrounded again, Sasuke left the gymnasium and trudged towards home. Only a couple other students who were done with their fights were leaving the campus as well – the rest were sticking around to cheer on their friends.

"Hey, Sasuke-san!" a boy's voice called to him before he had gotten far.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Moriki trotting towards him, tailed by a few of his friends. Sasuke stopped to wait for them to catch up. He was in a decent mood and didn't mind talking to this particular classmate.

"Yeah?" he prompted, once they were standing a few feet apart.

Moriki laughed nervously and smiled a toothy grin, "I just wanted to say 'good job.' It was a nice fight."

"Yeah, it was fun," Sasuke smirked, the closest thing to a smile that he could conjure up in front of anyone by Megumi, "Good job, yourself."

"Oh yeah?" the other boy brightened up, "Thanks!"

An uncomfortable silence followed and Sasuke shifted his foot to indicate that he would like to get going again.

Moriki immediately bowed, "Well, thanks again, Sasuke-san. Good luck with the rest of the exams."

"You too," he replied and turned around to keep walking.

The boys behind him burst into chatter as they hurried away, back to the gym. Finally, Sasuke smiled to himself, tilting his head down to hide it in his collar. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad when he had to work with other kids in a team environment.

Once he was out of view of the school, Sasuke found a leafy tree by the roadside and hopped up into it to wait for Megumi. It was a few minutes before she came walking down the road with her shoulder bag, staring at the ground. Sasuke let her walk right under him, intending to surprise her after she passed, but she slowed to a stop just after the tree and looked around.

"Don't tell me you knew I was here," he chuckled, hopping down from the branch.

Her surprised expression faded into a warm smile, "I thought I felt something familiar."

"Walk you home?" he offered.

"Sure, thanks," she resumed her trudge and he fell into step beside her.

"I can't believe you were so nervous," he finally said, "You ended up doing really well in the match."

"Thanks," she smiled over at him proudly, "Were you surprised?"

"Yes," he admitted.

"I've been practicing a lot since the survival exam where you gave me all that good advice," Megumi gushed, "working on the chakra punches, and I've learned some new paper jutsus. But, Sasuke, your match was very well-done too. I knew you'd be perfect."

"Moriki-san was a fun opponent," he shrugged, "I could be friends with that guy, I suppose."

"He's nice," she giggled, "I felt bad when he had to fight you."

"Well, I didn't feel bad for Ino fighting you," Sasuke grinned wickedly, "That was rather satisfying."

"It did make it a lot easier," she agreed, "I didn't have to wrestle with whether or not to hold back. The real emotion of battle was there behind every move. I just hope she doesn't retaliate in some horrible way."

"After seeing your new moves?" he pointed out, "She's probably too scared to."

"True," Megumi nodded and blushed slightly.

They were nearing their part of town now and their conversation turned to the next exam they would face, which was a written one. Megumi was eager to get home and finish her work so that she could study for it. As they rounded the corner to her front gate, they saw a woman standing there in a nice kimono, holding a briefcase and digging around in it for something.

"Oh, Mom," Megumi said in surprise and reached into her bag, producing a set of keys, "Here, I've got it."

"Thank you, dear," the woman stepped back as Megumi unlocked the gate.

Sasuke hung back a few steps, feeling a little awkward as his friend's mother looked him over suspiciously.

"Mom," Megumi stepped back and put her hand on his shoulder, "This is Uchiha Sasuke from the Academy. He's the top student in our class. He's really amazing. He lives nearby, so we were just walking home together."

"Well, thank you for escorting Megumi, Sasuke-san," the woman bowed her head subtly, "Won't you come in for a bit?"

Normally Sasuke refused invitations of any kind without hesitation, but Megumi was giving him an eager look, and he was very curious. It had been a long time since he had been in someone else's house or around their family.

"That's very kind, Nishiku-san, thank you," he accepted and saw Megumi stifle a triumphant grin.

Megumi's mother held the gate open for the two young people to enter, and Sasuke let his friend lead the way down the path towards the house. The front yard was a perfectly-landscaped garden with a stream and several tall pine trees.

"Megumi, you're home a bit earlier than normal," the woman observed.

"We had an exam today," she explained, "And Sasuke-san and I finished early."

Sasuke expected more after seeing how pleased she had been with herself earlier, but she didn't elaborate further. Megumi had told him before that her parents cared nothing for her ninja training and never wanted to hear about it. He saw now how frustrated this left her when all her hard work was doomed to go without acknowledgement from the people closest to her. Somewhere in his past, he remembered that feeling as well.

They entered the house, which was large and modern. After taking off their shoes, Megumi led the way to a plush living room, where the two children sat down on a couch and Mrs. Nishiku began unloading things from her briefcase onto a large desk.

"Megumi, won't you start some tea?" she prompted.

"Yeah, good idea," the girl jumped up from the couch and gave Sasuke a look, bidding him to follow.

"I'll help," he stood up and followed her.

Once they were in the kitchen, Megumi hurried to fill up the tea pot and light the stove. Sasuke looked around at all the appliances and cupboard.

"You have a nice house," he remarked.

"Thanks," she replied with a nervous laugh and nearly fumbled setting the heavy tea pot on the burner.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Now what's wrong?"

"I just want my mom to like you," she explained as she took off her gloves and let down her hair, brushing through it with her fingers, "I've had girly friends over before, like Ino and Sakura, and that's fine because they only want to talk about magazine things. My parents like that. But I've never had a boy over, especially one who is only interested in ninjutsu."

Mesmerized by her changing look, Sasuke missed the opportunity to point out what else he was interested in. He recovered after a few seconds and asked, "Don't you talk about your training with your parents at all?"

She shook her head, "Beyond what my schedule is, no. They haven't even made plans to come to graduation."

He frowned, recalling briefly the feelings he had when his father showed reluctance about going to the Academy's entrance ceremony.

"Up till now I've only faced disinterest from them," Megumi continued, her voice getting quieter, "But once I'm a gennin, it's going to be full-on opposition. I'm not looking forward to that."

"You've decided, though," he urged, "So you have to talk to them about it."

"I know," she whispered, "I will."

Soon the teapot was whistling and Megumi hurried to set out four cups and fill them with the hot drink. She moved all of them onto a tray and carried it back into the living room. Sasuke was right behind her and noticed a man in the room now too; Megumi must have sensed this before she prepared the fourth cup. Undoubtedly, this was her father, and he was standing by the desk, looking something over with her mother. Sasuke's throat clenched slightly. He could sense his friend's tension, and that added onto his own awkwardness about being welcomed in by someone else's family.

Megumi brought the tray over to her parents and handed them each a cup, then sat down on the couch next to Sasuke and handed him one as well.

Her father turned and nodded towards him, "So you're Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yes, sir," he answered, sipping on his tea.

"Megumi," her mother interrupted, "Won't you go change, dear? Those Academy clothes are awful to wear in front of guests."

"All right," she resigned and set her cup down, then hurried from the room. Sasuke knew she wouldn't leave him alone with her parents for too long, though, so he trusted she was moving quickly once she was out of sight.

"Megumi says you're top of her class," her father addressed him again.

"That's right," he acknowledged.

"As expected," Mrs. Nishiku put on a forced smile, "Though I'm surprised you chose to pursue a shinobi life."

"Surprised?" he repeated.

"Such a violent existence," she elaborated, "So much pointless killing and harm. You should know better than anyone that no good comes from teaching people how to kill each other."

Sasuke was taken aback by her bluntness.

"Back in our journalistic days," Mr. Nishiku explained, "we worked closely with the police force, so we knew your family well, Sasuke-san. It was their deep involvement in the shinobi world that made them such a target. As the only legacy of the Uchiha clan, it's a shame that you would follow the same destructive path."

"I'm not just the legacy, I'm the avenger for my family," he defended himself, "And how would I do that without becoming a ninja?"

Mrs. Nishiku sighed, "The best revenge would be to live well and be successful. That's what everyone had to do after the war, right about when you kids were born. They all had to take what was left of their families and their lives and make the best of it. There are so many orphans and childless adults around today because of these violent pursuits. Luckily, our family has never had to go through such a tragedy. We've managed to keep our noses out of shinobi business until now."

"It's not all violence and death," Sasuke countered, though he had never given much thought to the angle he was now trying to argue, "Shinobi are used to defend and protect. They are invaluable healers and teachers. Most missions are to help someone or solve a problem, not destroy things."

"Yes, of course," the man conceded, "But how long until our only daughter would be sent on a dangerous mission? How long until the next war breaks out or demon attacks the village and you young people are sent to fight? What a waste."

"Megumi has a job," his wife added, "And the potential to really achieve success and fame through it. She can use that to help people all she wants. No need to risk her life, scar up her body, and live on a meager salary just for the chance to be helpful on some mission."

Sasuke bristled, "You misunderstand her motivation, and you underestimate her skills."

"She wanted to learn how to be a ninja, and she's spent the last few years at the Academy playing around and learning," her father rolled his eyes, "It's time for her to get serious now about a real career. At least you have the potential to make a career as a ninja, being an Uchiha and the top of the class."

"Megumi-san is top of the class as well," Sasuke returned, trying not to let his anger make his tone disrespectful, "She works incredibly hard and has unique skills. You should have seen some of the challenges she's overcome; even in today's exam she left everyone speechless. She is going to be a very successful shinobi; and if you just come to our graduation and talk to our senseis, they will tell you the same."

"Sasuke-san, we appreciate your enthusiasm for our daughter," Mrs. Nishiku forced that smile again, "But we just don't think she'll be pursuing ninja training any further. It's just a waste of time for someone as talented as she is in the fashion industry. We want to keep our family together, I'm sure you could understand."

Sasuke busied his mouth with drinking a long dredge of tea, so that he wouldn't say anything rude in return. It was not his place to tell Megumi's parents about her decision to be a full-time ninja – she would have to reveal that to them herself. And, as insensitively as she kept presenting it, Sasuke knew that Mrs. Nishiku was trying to convey regret for the loss he had experienced. He had to agree, but it certainly didn't lead him to the same conclusions that it did them.

The tension was interrupted by Megumi trotting back into the room, looking almost unrecognizable to Sasuke. Her hair was down and brushed out until it was full and wavy, and her face was accented precisely by the shadows and highlights of makeup. She was wearing a colorful spring dress that showed off her legs and gave her a more feminine figure than her Academy outfit. She tried to hide her worried look as she picked up on the discomfort in the room.

"That's much better, dear," Mrs. Nishiku smiled, "You look lovely."

As she sat down next to him, Sasuke felt himself relax again, but a new swell of attraction nagged at him when he looked at her. He was reminded of the feelings he had when he saw her sloppy and covered in blood after their fight with the tigers. If only her parents had seen the irresistible fierceness of that moment. But this pretty girl was what they were used to and could not imagine in a fight at all.

"Sasuke-san," Mrs. Nishiku extended her hand toward the coffee table that the tea tray was set on, "Have you seen Megumi's covers?"

"Mom!" the girl protested, "He's not interested in stuff like that."

Sasuke looked down at the table, noticing for the first time the fanned-out array of magazines – all featuring his friend on the cover. It didn't intrigue him as much as it had in the store that first time, now that he had her sitting right next to him.

"They're nice," he commented, "Have you seen any of her jutsus? They're very impressive."

"She's worked hard to look as good as she does," Mr. Nishiku nodded toward his daughter, "I don't want her shifting into anything else."

"I work hard on my jutsus too," Megumi spoke up, "And they're not all transformation."

"You've both been at the Academy all day," her mother sighed, "Let's not bore Sasuke-san by talking about jutsus and school work."

"Yes, I'm curious about your history, since everyone knows about mine already," Sasuke addressed the adults, "You're not from a shinobi clan, so why did you come to live in Konoha?"

"You'll forgive us for our familiarity, Sasuke-san," Megumi's father said kindly, "Since we're in the media, we pay close attention to news stories, and yours was a rather big one. Of course we hadn't worked with your family for a few years by that point, so we weren't close anymore…"

"You knew the Uchihas?" Megumi asked in surprise.

"Yes, dear," her mother looked up at a plaque that hung above the desk, commemorating some kind of journalistic award, "Before we got into magazines, your father and I worked closely with the police force to cover stories for the top newspaper in the country. The Uchiha's were our most reliable source for statements and tips. I recall sending a nice fruit basket to the family when little Sasuke-san was born."

The two children looked at each other with amusement at this newly-discovered connection.

"But to answer your question," her father picked up again, "We used to live in a smaller town long before Megumi was born, but it was just too dangerous out there during the war. We felt more secure in a hidden village and, of course, it was a better place to find news and pursue our careers."

"So we benefit from the shinobi clans and rely on their protection," Megumi said sarcastically, "But it's not an acceptable career."

"Not for someone like you, dear," her mother gave her a harsh look, "If someone has to do it, then I'd rather have it be a natural talent like Sasuke-san."

"But what about you," Mr. Nishiku interrupted and changed the subject, nodding towards Sasuke, "Do you have any other interests besides your training? Any hobbies?"

Sasuke thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with anything. His only interest besides ninjutsu was Megumi, though he wasn't about to tell her father that. He stared at the teacup in his hands and blurted the first lie that came to mind.

"I like to cook."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Megumi glance at him and stifle a laugh. It was true that he _could_ cook fairly well, but he didn't actually consider it a hobby or anything. He just didn't want to sound like he had no life outside being a shinobi, though he and Megumi both knew that was exactly the case.

"That's delightful," Mrs. Nishiku smiled while her husband nodded approvingly, "Megumi could stand to be more useful around the house. Maybe your domestic skills will rub off on her."

As her parents laughed, Megumi sighed, "My other responsibilities keep me busy enough. And speaking of which, I really ought to get ready for work, so I think I'll walk Sasuke-san out to the gate."

"Aww," her mother cooed, "Well, it was a pleasure to see you, Sasuke-san. Best of luck to you with your cooking."

"And congratulations on your placement at the Academy," her father added.

"Thank you," Sasuke bowed as he stood up, "It was good to meet you. Hopefully I'll see you again soon at graduation."

They didn't reply beyond simple smiles as Megumi led him from the room and through the foyer into the front yard again.

"You see what I'm talking about?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke chuckled, "Good luck with them, Megumi. They want nothing to do with you becoming a gennin. I tried to build you up, but they just don't think it's for you."

She smiled at the ground as they walked, "Thanks for trying."

"I get the feeling," he continued, "That they have no idea you can blow up giant animals and punch through wooden floors."

"Of course not," she laughed, "Those are exactly the kind of violent things that they associate with all shinobi. I think deep down, they really just want to protect me. Seeing all they've seen has poisoned their view of what shinobi families often go through. I'm sorry if they said anything offensive."

"I've heard worse," he dismissed it, "And it sounds like what happened to my family is one of their strongest cases against letting you get involved in shinobi work, so I apologize for my part in your troubles."

She looked up at him in surprise, "It's not your fault – you shouldn't ever apologize for it."

"But what would they say if they knew your friend was on a quest to kill his own brother?" he posed.

"To kill a traitorous murderer," she corrected angrily, "And what would they say if they found out I had punched a girl in the face and got a good grade for it? Sasuke, my parents don't understand our reasons, but we both know why we do these things, and we shouldn't have to explain ourselves to anyone. I don't care what they think, I still support the shinobi way and I still support your quest for vengeance. I _will_ make them see that it's important to me, even if I can't make them understand why."

Sasuke's heart swelled with admiration for this beautiful girl's stubbornness, and he was always comforted to hear the emotion in her voice when she talked about his goal to avenge his family. There was no one who understood him and cared the way she did. With Megumi by his side, he no longer feared losing his humanity on his mission or coming back to find an empty life.

He gave her a smile, "Two more days, then they'll know. Do you want me to fail the next couple exams so you'll graduate with the highest grades?"

Finally her irritation gave way to a laugh and she playfully hit him on the arm, "I don't think my grades will help them find ninjutsu any more valuable than before. Besides that would be a terrible way to restart the Uchiha legacy – graduating behind a nobody."

"We'll see," he reminded her, "Your legacy may be great enough someday to justify it."

She laughed again and rolled her eyes, "Now I'm going to feel really bad if I fail that exam tomorrow."

He groaned, "Megumi, you know _everything_. I've quizzed you on every possible subject."

"Well, I still need to review tonight," she argued, "Just to make sure I haven't blanked on anything already. And the sooner I get to work and get it done, the sooner I can sneak in some studying."

She pulled open the front gate, and stepped aside.

"See you tomorrow," he nodded, "And thanks for the tea."

"You're welcome back any time," she offered, and bowed politely.

As he walked away, Sasuke glanced back over his shoulder and caught an image of her as the breeze tossed her hair and skirt around, like in a magazine ad. Then for a moment he thought he saw a strange pattern in the branches of one of the trees that grew near the high wall. As soon as he heard her close the gate, he stopped and turned around completely, but the shape wasn't there anymore. He studied the trees for a few more seconds before dismissing the anomaly as a mere illusion caused by the rustling leaves. This girl was distracting to his senses, but he didn't really mind it anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

_Early the next morning._

It had been a dream so nice that reality now made him nauseous. Sasuke had spent a regular afternoon and evening with his family before waking up. Everyone was there except Itachi, but he hadn't even noticed during the dream; only now upon looking back at it did he realize that the perfect family reunion was missing his brother. Normally a dream like this would have been invaded by Itachi at some point, but not so this time. Being around another family the day before must have caused these pleasant memories to resurface during the night.

He got up and got dressed, still in an optimistic mood. After a quick breakfast and lunch preparation, he grabbed his backpack and headed for school an hour earlier than usual. Nobody else was around this early, but he knew Megumi would be in the attic studying, as she was every morning before classes started. Sasuke figured he'd surprise her this morning and help her review.

When he got to campus and climbed into the attic, though, she was nowhere to be seen. He stood there looking around for a couple seconds before Megumi dropped down into the center of the room with a relieved grin.

"Sasuke," she greeted, "Good morning. What are you doing here so early?"

"I thought I'd come review with you," he gave her a quizzical look, "Why were you hiding?"

Her grin faded away now, "I was just nervous that it might be someone else."

"Who else would it be?" he teased.

"Well, I ran into Mizuki-sensei earlier," she mumbled.

"Wow," Sasuke felt annoyed now, "What was he doing creeping around campus so early?"

"Who knows," she shrugged, "But he did give me a heads up about today. Apparently they're going to do a surprise exam on jutsus between the written portions, so I've been studying for those now too."

"I don't think he's supposed to tell you that kind of thing," Sasuke furrowed his brows, "But at least you won't freak out now when they spring the surprise on everyone else."

Megumi chuckled, "That's true; I probably would have gone crazy. Still, I wonder why he thought it was okay to tell me."

Sasuke smirked, "Because he loooooves you."

"Shut up, Sasuke," she rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling, "and just help me study."

They sat down in Megumi's normal corner and started reviewing class notes as well as jutsus. As usual, she fumbled nervously with every answer, but got almost all of them right. Sasuke was confident that they were both ready for the day's challenges by the time they had to leave for class.

_A couple hours later._

"Pencils down," Kurenai-sensei said, and several groans went up from the classroom.

Sasuke sighed with relief. He had been done for a while now and noticed that Megumi had finished not too long after him and spent the rest of the time re-reading her test to double-check her answers.

"All right," Iruka-sensei walked to the middle of the room, "Before we start the next portion of the exam, we're going to have a surprise jutsu test."

Loud sounds of protest burst from the students, even Megumi played along by flopping her head down into her hands. Sasuke just glared down at the floor. Being a shinobi was all about thinking quickly and adapting to surprise circumstances, so it was pathetic for anyone to call this unfair. If they couldn't perform a certain jutsu perfectly without warning, then they didn't deserve to graduate.

"As I call your name," Kurenai-sensei instructed, "Please go to the next room where Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei will reveal the jutsu and grade your execution."

The order was random, and Megumi went long before Sasuke. As she reentered the classroom after her turn, Sasuke could see that she looked relieved but was still recovering from her usual flustered blush. She glanced up at him with a slight smile to let him know she did okay, then sat down in her seat and immediately began studying for the next portion of the written exam. As he waited for his turn, he stared down at her. What would it be like after graduation, to not have her in his site the entire day?

Finally when his name was called, a chorus of high-pitched "good lucks" went up from the girls in the classroom, and he remembered why he was looking forward to being out of the Academy after all.

_The next afternoon._

"All right settle down," Iruka-sensei ordered the students, "This concludes the final exams of the Konoha Gennin Academy. I want to tell you what an honor it's been having you all in my class. I have faith that each of you will make fine shinobi one day. Remember, final grades will be posted tomorrow morning, so come have a look at them. For those of you that pass, graduation will be on Friday at 11am. See you all then. Enjoy the day off tomorrow. And now, for the last time as students: class dismissed."

A cheer erupted from the kids as they all jumped up from their desks and began talking and packing up to go home. As usual, Sasuke headed for the bathroom to disappear until the campus was empty enough for him to train on the equipment. So many students surrounded him to chatter about what a great year it had been and how much they liked being in class with him. He just nodded along and tried to get past them.

He saw Megumi head for the door first, smiling politely and thanking the boys that were talking to her. She didn't even look his way before disappearing into the hall. He felt a bit stung. That had been a real smile she was giving to the others; and on their last day of class, she didn't even attempt to say goodbye with her eyes. He had come early again to help her study that morning, and she had given him smiles all day between tests. She was obviously very happy to be finishing this part of her training, and had made it clear how much she appreciated his help; so why would she leave now without even acknowledging him? He wanted to share her happiness; he enjoyed her company so much when she was in this kind of mood.

Shoving past the last of their classmates, he made it to the hallway and looked around, but Megumi wasn't visible among the other students. In defeat, he walked briskly to the bathroom and closed himself inside a stall to wait. As he waited, his mind wandered back to the frustration he used to feel whenever he was around Megumi. Before the survival exam, he was both intrigued and confused by her. It took a long time before they even starting talking and making an effort to understand one another. In only a few short weeks they had grown so close, and developed such a connection. Now her sudden coldness had plunged him into confusion and frustration again. On such an important day, when she was so happy, how could she avoid him like that?

As he thought about it, he grew so frustrated that he decided to head for the gym without waiting the usual amount of time. He decided that with classes finally done, nobody would be there anyway, so it wasn't necessary to wait as long.

When the bathroom was empty, he came out of the stall and propped open the window so that he could jump out into the nearest tree. Most of the students were excited to get off campus and celebrate, so there were very few people left on the grounds; and none of them noticed as he jumped between roofs and tree branches to get to the gym. He pushed the door open and strode in, then paused in confusion when he noticed the lights were out. Perhaps the custodians had assumed nobody would need the practice facilities after exams.

As he was thinking this, there was a noise behind him and something jumped down and started to put him in a behind-the-back arm lock. He was caught off guard for the moment, but wasn't in the mood to wrestle with some school rival. As quickly as he could, he twisted his arms away while grabbing the wrists of his attacker and locking his leg between theirs in a tripping move. They immediately began to fall, but he held their wrists tight and collapsed as well, turning to position himself for a pinning move upon impact. It had all happened in a split second; and it wasn't until he was on top of her, pinning her legs, arms, and neck to the ground, that he recognized Megumi's wide eyes and teasing smile.

"You brat!" he burst, "I thought you went home."

"I wanted to talk to you first," she grinned.

Instantly the annoyance he had been feeling fled and was replaced with relief and comfort. He released her and took her hand to help her up.

"I thought I'd try to get the jump on you again," she explained as she walked over to turn on the lights, "Like the first time we met in our lunch spot. Guess I haven't gotten much better…"

"Yes, you have," he corrected, "If you were really attacking me with the intention to kill, you might have done better. It doesn't work so well when you're laughing."

"Yeah, I'm in too good a mood to hurt anyone right now," she couldn't stop smiling, "I can't believe I did it. I made it through the Academy in 4 years! All the hard work paid off; and now I'm standing on the other side, victorious."

"It only gets harder from here," Sasuke reminded her, "And you still haven't told your parents."

"Sasuke," she sighed and her smile faded, "Don't be a downer. Can't we just be proud of ourselves right now?"

"The Academy was just a necessary annoyance on the way to my goal," he replied, "I've still got a lot of training to do on real missions before I can even think of facing my brother."

Megumi looked more serious now, and he felt kind of bad for killing her mood, but he didn't think graduating from the Academy was as exciting as she did. Even she had potential that made their school days seem like a boring waste, but she either couldn't or wouldn't acknowledge that yet, and it annoyed him.

"Well," she said, "You're one step closer to that goal, and that's good. I'm still proud of myself for every little thing, though, even if you think it's silly."

"Hey," he softened, "I'm proud of you too; but one of these days you're going to realize how good you are and wonder why the Academy seemed like such a big accomplishment. If you can make it in half the time as the rest of the students, then you've got bigger successes in your future than becoming a gennin. I look forward to being excited with you then."

Finally her smile returned sheepishly and she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He had missed her embrace a lot, and held onto her now with fervor.

"Thank you for believing in me, Sasuke," she mumbled into his shoulder, "You helped me so much, even if you don't know or care, and I have to say thank you for it. If we're assigned to separate teams after this and our paths get further apart, you will still be a precious person to me. That will never change."

Sasuke clutched onto her all the more strongly, but was no good at sentiments and found himself unable to say anything back, even though he was nearly bursting with emotion. After the silence where his reply should have been, he felt Megumi chuckle in his arms and knew she understood. He was glad that she had him figured out that way.

"Okay," she relaxed her grip on him and he let her go, "I guess I've said goodbye now, so I'll let you get back to your training."

As she stepped back, she was smiling and tried to wipe her eyes subtly. Sasuke let out a laugh and snatched her hand, wiping his thumb along the tears on her finger.

"What are you getting all emotional for, dummy? We've still got to come look at our grades tomorrow and then there's graduation and the team meetings. It's not goodbye yet."

"I know," she sniffed and blinked away a few more tears, "It's just the relief of getting to the end. Graduation is the acknowledgement, and team meetings is a new beginning, but this is the end."

"All right, I agree with you there," he admitted, wiping his thumb on his shorts, "It is a relief. When are you coming to look at your grades?"

"Pretty early," her lips curled up into a devious grin, "My parents think it's a normal school day, so I'm going to leave home at the same time and then I've got a whole free day before I need to go back."

"Good," he nodded, "You need a day off for once. Let's meet in the morning to see the grades. I'm sure nobody else will be up at that time."

"Yeah, I'd like that," she agreed, backing towards the door, "I'll see you early, then."

"Yeah, see you," he raised his hand, and they both waved before she turned and trotted out of the gym.

Sasuke sighed and smiled to himself. She had called him a precious person, and he knew he felt the same about her. Maybe it was the hug that had rendered him speechless, but somehow he had missed a good opportunity to confess to her before it was too late. He didn't want them to become gennin and go off on separate missions without her knowing how he felt. He would definitely tell her tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

_Early the next morning._

Sasuke opened his eyes and lay still for several long seconds, letting reality come back slowly. He was disappointed when he finally looked around his lonely apartment, but the warm joy of his dream still lingered in his stomach. It had been another happy reunion with his family, just talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. Itachi was nowhere to be found. It was a happier memory than any of his real ones.

As he got dressed and packed a lunch, he thought about what had happened to him. Years of bitterness and discomfort had finally been overcome, and without any effort on his part. All of a sudden he could smile, he laughed often, he didn't fear falling asleep. Until recently, he couldn't remember when the last time was that he had been hugged or that he had felt sincerely happy about anything.

He shouldered his backpack and left his apartment, walking with purpose through the waking city. He found himself throwing his shoulders back confidently and fighting the urge to smile like a child. It was her, he knew. Megumi's friendship had somehow made him feel free of all his previous burdens. It was easier for him to keep Itachi out of his mind, and harder for him to embrace the hate that was usually boiling inside him. For the first time, he didn't feel lost or cursed or alone; he didn't fear his fate. In fact, he was suddenly inspired to really consider what he wanted for his future.

These thoughts kept him busy all the way to the Academy. He had almost reached the main building, when he heard voices and stopped. He didn't feel like running into anyone else today; and he was annoyed that someone would be there so early, after he had figured it would just be Megumi and himself coming to check. The voice didn't sound like another student's, though, and Sasuke decided to see what was going on before making his presence known. He went around to a classroom window and snuck in that way, then used connecting doors until he was close enough to hear the people in the hallway. He leaned up to the doorjamb to listen.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Sensei," he recognized Megumi's voice.

"Not at all, Megumi-chan," came the syrupy voice of Mizuki-sensei.

Sasuke suppressed a growl. What was with that guy?

"There they are," the teacher continued, "I was going to put them up soon, I just didn't realize anyone would be here so early. You must be pretty eager."

"Yeah, I couldn't wait," she replied with an unconvincing enthusiasm.

"You did very well, Megumi-chan," Mizuki cooed, "I'm so impressed. I've been watching your progress for the past couple years and it's just so amazing how much you've grown. I can't help how….impressed I feel."

"T-thank you, Sensei," she was obviously uncomfortable, "I tried my best."

Sasuke desperately wanted to rush out and protect her, but he knew she could take care of herself, and he wanted to listen a little longer to see what Mizuki was up to.

"Amazing," he sighed, "And you aren't even from a shinobi family. What do you suppose your special skills will be?"

"I'm really not sure," she gave a nervous laugh, "But I'm pretty good at scroll jutsus."

"Yes, you have displayed a high level of skill with the written spells," he awed, "Would you like to learn some more advanced scroll jutsus? Would you work hard enough to master them?"

"Yes, definitely. I have a book–"

"Dear, Megumi-chan," Mizuki interrupted in a voice that sent chills up Sasuke's spine, "I mean very advanced levels – the kind that they can't publish in books. If you master these jutsus, you'll surpass Sasuke-san and be a legendary shinobi in the village. Our team will be the greatest in Konoha."

After a pause, Megumi responded weakly, "Of course I would work hard to learn strong jutsus to protect the village, but what do you mean _our_ team?"

"I can arrange it so that you are placed on my team as a gennin," the lust was audible in his voice, "Once you are my personal student, I will give you all the most powerful jutsus. I will teach you any skill you are willing to learn."

Sasuke's nails were digging into his palms painfully as he made tight fists in his struggle to stay composed and hidden.

"I'll work hard no matter what team I'm on," Megumi answered in her fakest tone, and Sasuke could almost feel her queasiness through the walls.

"We'll work hard together," he assured her, "On my team; and you won't even know how to thank me for all the things I'm going to teach you."

He had to interrupt this before he friend was forced to endure any more. As silently as possible, Sasuke slipped back into another room and ducked out the window, then ran back around to the front of the building. Without hesitation, he shoved open the door and marched into the hallway. Megumi was backed up against the wall with Mizuki-sensei leaning over her, his hand resting on the wall above her. Both of them looked over at the noise of his entrance and Megumi's face immediately lit up, while Mizuki's dropped to an annoyed scowl. Sasuke exchanged glares with him for a second, then the teacher withdrew his arm and closed his eyes, putting on a tense smile.

"Well, Megumi-san," the he sighed, "I have to go make preparations for tomorrow's graduation. See you there."

"Bye," she said, without even giving her usual polite bow, and Mizuki disappeared into one of the rooms across the hall.

Megumi looked back over at Sasuke as he approached and he gave her a very stern glare, causing her to lower her eyes to the ground. As soon as he reached the bulletin board, he stopped and looked up to where his name was written on the first line. Megumi's was second.

"Good job," he said flatly, "Let's go."

She didn't answer, but hurried along a step behind him as he spun and marched for the door. They walked for a minute like this in silence, until they were some distance from the building, then Sasuke slowed so that she would be walking beside him.

"Why didn't you tell him to back off?" he demanded quietly, "You can't just stand there and take it like that. Mizuki was out of line."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she weakly defended herself, "He's a teacher, and I just didn't know how to be…forceful against a teacher."

Sasuke growled, "You make me worried, Megumi. I can't watch over you if he puts you on his team, so you'll have to learn how to stand up to him yourself."

"You heard that?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I heard almost all of it," he admitted, "I was hoping you'd knock his face off for talking to you in that voice."

"He's a teacher…" she repeated.

"And what about when he's your master?" Sasuke eyes were burning with anger as he looked at her, "Are you not going to defend yourself then at all?!"

"I'm sorry!" she cried and lowered her head so much that her nose disappeared into her collar.

They stopped behind one of the custodial sheds and Sasuke leaned against the wall, covering his face with his hand in frustration. He hated that he was making her feel bad, but he couldn't help his panic. She meant so much to him, that it was impossible for him not to be fiercely protective of her. There was sure to be a nicer way of letting her know, though; he just wasn't used to looking for the nice way of doing things. All he could think of was that he should just tell her how he felt. He had been going over it all morning, so it should be easily enough to express.

He opened his eyes and saw that Megumi was seated against the wall beside him with her head buried into her knees. Her shoulders were trembling with silent sobs. Immediately his frustration shattered, and he slumped down to sit next to her, putting one arm around her back.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke," she cried, hugging her legs tighter, "I don't know what to do. If I fight with him, I could get kicked out. If I resist, his tactics could get more drastic. What if we're on a mission in the middle of nowhere? What if he uses genjutsu? If I'm assigned to his team, then I'll have to quit, Sasuke, and all this work will be for nothing."

"Don't give up yet," he said calmly, "We can talk to Iruka-sensei about putting you on a different team."

"Mizuki-sensei is on the same committee," she argued, "He's going to make it happen the way he wants."

"Well," Sasuke gave her shoulder a squeeze, "You're not going to let it ruin your hard work. If you're on his team, you're going to have to show him that you mean business. You just need to stand up to him one or two times and he'll get the picture. I can teach you how resist genjutsu, if that's what you're worried about; but I think he'll give up bothering you if you just stand up to him. I've seen you be tough – tough enough to scare a dirty old man like Mizuki." Her shoulders shook with a chuckle and Sasuke took his arm off her as he continued, "He's a worthless teacher, and you're a clever ninja. Show a little backbone, and I'm sure you'll be running the team in no time. If he wants to give you advanced jutsus, then all the better for you."

She took a deep breath, and seemed a lot calmer, but kept her face in her knees.

"Megumi," Sasuke began, surprised at how nervous his voice sounded, "I know in the beginning we promised not to worry about each other, but I have to confess that I worry about you all the time. I mean, I think you can take care of yourself, but I still feel like I should protect you. It's like you said yesterday, about me being precious to you. Well, you are my precious person too – my only one. Every other one I've ever had has been lost, and now I'm so worried that I'll lose you too. I don't know what we're going to do when we're on different teams, but I want to make sure you are okay. So, I'm sorry if I seem too protective."

After a pause, her voice came slowly, "I didn't realize…that I meant that much to you." She lifted her head and wiped her face, "If that's true, Sasuke, then I have no choice but to defend myself at all costs. I would never want anything to happen to another one of your precious people."

"Then take care of yourself, okay?" he urged, "Show Mizuki you're in charge, because if he really does anything, I'll be forced to avenge you too and then we'll both be kicked out."

"All right, Sasuke," she nodded, finally uncovering her face, so that he could see the red around her eyes and nose, "I won't let him intimidate me from this moment on. You won't have to worry about me anymore."

"Promise?" he held up his fist with his pinky outstretched.

She smiled as she linked hers through it and they shook, "Promise."

At last, he smiled back at her, admiring how the crying had turned her eyes slightly bluer. Unhooking his pinky from hers, he grabbed her wrist instead, standing up and pulling her along with him.

"So what are you gunna do with your free day now?" he asked.

"I dunno," she shrugged and started smiling, "I thought about hiking or swimming or visiting a shrine. What are you going to do? Train?"

"I dunno," he echoed, "Maybe I should take a day off, myself."

"Let's do something together, then," she suggested, "If you want."

"That would be nice," he agreed with a relieved smile.

He had been looking forward to the chance to spend another day with her ever since the survival exam two weeks ago. However, he wasn't the kind to go walking around with a girl in public, even if it was his best friend. He just wanted to be alone with her, so they could be themselves without anyone bothering them.

"Where do you feel like going?" Megumi put her hands on her hips, "I can't really go too far downtown or I might run into someone who'll mention it to my parents."

Sasuke cycled through the short list of activities that interested him in Konoha, but none of them would offer them the privacy they needed. There was one place that he had been thinking about visiting lately, though.

"I have an idea, if you're up for it," he looked at her carefully, "I've been wanting to see the old estate again, but I don't know if I really want to go alone. I can't think of anyone else that I could stand to take with me besides you. It's not really a fun place, so we don't have to–"

"That's great, Sasuke," she lit up, "I'd love to go with you and see where you grew up. Will anyone mind us walking around the estate?"

"It's all mine," he reminded her, "I haven't allowed anyone in there since the incident, so it'll be just us."

"Okay," she agreed, "Let's go check it out then."


	13. Chapter 13

With Sasuke leading the way, they took a long route that skirted the edge of the village, so they could avoid running into too many people. It was mid-morning when they spotted the huge wall bordering the road. The paint was stained and cracked, and weeds had grown up along the base while leafy vines overtook most of the wall. Every once in a while, they could see the Uchiha fan painted on an exposed portion of stone. Finally they reached the main gate, which was barred by heavy wooden doors behind the faded tatters of the curtains that bore the family crest. A chain wound through two holes in the wood and hooked to itself through a large padlock.

"The key is in a safe," Sasuke sighed, "So we'll just have to jump the wall."

"Are you sure nobody lives in there?" Megumi peered through the hole where the chain hung from.

"I have the police sweep the grounds once a week," he assured her, "Just to make sure there are no intruders."

Bending down, he sprang up and landed on top of the wall in a squatting position. He paused there, holding his breath as the familiar sight hit him again. His overwhelming memories of this place were traumatic, and so he hadn't stepped foot on the property in years. If it weren't for his recent dreams and pleasant thoughts about his legacy, he wouldn't have even considered coming back here for an instant. But maybe it was still too soon. Maybe he had overestimated the healing power of his newfound happiness. Yet, right when he was about to chicken out, Megumi landed next to him on the wall and gasped.

"Wow, Sasuke," she breathed, "It's amazing! This is where you grew up?"

He heard her voice and felt her next to him, and when he blinked he found it easier to see again.

"Yes," he said, softly at first, then tried to force his voice to gain confidence, "This is where all my good memories took place. Everyone I loved was here."

"Beautiful," she whispered, "How long have you been away?"

"I came back once or twice right after the massacre to get my belongings," he glanced at her, "But that was it."

She glanced back, "Are you sure you want to walk these streets again?"

He paused, searching his gut, "Will you stay with me?"

"Yes," she nodded.

He looked over the view again, knowing he could recall vividly the way it looked that night, but urging himself to see it the way it was in his recent dreams. There were good things down there waiting for him to remember them, and loneliness no longer had a hold on his mind.

"All right," he looked at Megumi and gave a slight nod, "Let's go."

Together they jumped down into the Uchiha estate and landed with bent legs on the main road. Sasuke walked forward and Megumi stayed close to him as they looked around in silence. Most of the windows were boarded up and carts folded down. Some doors and awnings were still shattered from the fight. Sasuke had never hired anybody to come in and fix anything after the initial cleaning up. Due to the neglect, all the buildings seemed dirty and broken down, and plants were overgrown everywhere. Canals were filled with nothing but mold, and cats ducked in and out of doorways and windows.

"It must have been incredible when everything was clean," Megumi said softly, keeping his senses grounded, "I love the old style of the architecture."

"Yes," he said weakly and began to remember the way certain things used to look during the happy times.

They continued to walk, drawing closer and closer to his house. The uneasy feeling grew stronger and he had to fight to concentrate on the good memories. He must've been crazy for thinking he could do this. His eyes were drawn to the remnants of a wooden awning and his stomach twisted inside him. Just at the back of his mind lurked the image of his aunt and uncle lying dead at his feet in this very spot. The smell of blood wafted through his memory. He felt his eyes glaze over and a trembling start in his gut. He was going to throw up.

Suddenly, there was a pressure on his shaking hand and something obscured his view. A moment later it all came into focus.

"Sasuke," Megumi said sternly.

He realized she was standing right in front of him, holding his hand and gazing at him with her large green eyes. Heat flowed up his arm from where their hands entwined and the color of her eyes sent a shock through his brain.

"Green," he blurted, "My aunt used to hang a green banner from the roof of her shop during the spring. It had layers of green – dozens of shades – each strip cut like a blade of grass and sewn on in an overlapping pattern. I always knew that when the spring banner was up, she would have apple dumplings. Those were my favorite."

As he stopped, wide-eyed, to catch his breath; he found that the pressure from the back of his mind was gone. Everything around him appeared brighter and less threatening. Random memories began flowing back to him everywhere he looked.

"That sounds delicious," Megumi smiled and he focused on her again, his face still frozen in an expression of amazement.

"You have no idea," he looked back at the old wooden sweet stand and rambled as fast as he could, "Uncle and I would peel apples until we had cuts all over our hands, and in return Aunt would give us each one dumpling. I always whined that it wasn't a fair payment, so Uncle would sneak us each another one." He surprised himself with a laugh, "One time she caught us and chased Uncle with a rolling pin. And then in the fall, she would make frosted cookies. She always knew when I'd been into the frosting because the dye would turn my fingers orange."

Grasping tight to Megumi's hand, Sasuke walked forward quickly, and she trotted to keep up as he pointed to various things and let the memories flow back to him, "I remember the cousins that lived in that house were always picking on each other. The older sister nagged the boy constantly, because he took pranks too far a lot of the time. One time he put something sticky in her hair and their mother had to cut it short. She looked so bad with short hair. I didn't get along with him either, though. He would tease me about wanting to be a ninja, and throw cardboard shuriken at me."

"I thought all boys wanted to be ninjas," Megumi looked curiously at the house.

"Not this boy," Sasuke recalled, "He wanted to be an actor. He liked attention."

Megumi laughed and the sound of it made Sasuke smile.

She looked down the road a little ways and pointed, "Is that a garden?"

"Yes," he said and they walked towards it, "My eldest uncle would tend to the plants out front. He was especially skilled at shaping the trees. My eldest aunt kept the rock garden in the back. Looks like it's all grown out of control now."

"Can we see the back?" Megumi asked.

"Of course," he led the way, still holding onto her hand tightly, "I always thought this place was so boring, but my father would come here to meditate all the time. He tried to take me once or twice, but I couldn't keep still."

"Really?" Megumi giggled, "I've always loved rock gardens. They're so peaceful."

As they passed through the sliding door from the front patio to the back patio, they were met with a disappointing sight. The entire bed of stones was obscured by layers of fallen leaves. The larger rocks that jutted up as islands were covered in ugly brown moss.

"Oh," Megumi said sadly.

Sasuke looked out at the leaf pile and pictured the serene patterns of the stones hidden beneath it. While he may not have appreciated the spirituality of such a place when he was a boy, he thought he might be able to find beauty in it now; and Megumi seemed to know what to look for.

Letting go of her hand at last, he walked over to the wall and slid open a panel, behind which were stored the tools that his aunt had used to maintain the garden. He pulled out a rake and a bristled paddle, tossing the paddle to Megumi.

"I hope you don't mind if we do a little work on our day off," he apologized.

But she was beaming, "Not at all! This is an amazing opportunity."

They stepped down from the ledge into the pit and got to work. As Sasuke raked the leaves, Megumi scrubbed the moss from the island stones. Together they stuffed the leaves into a large sack and tossed it up onto the patio to dispose of elsewhere. After picking up all the twigs and other debris, Sasuke was still disappointed to see that the stones were dirty and jumbled around. He retrieved the wooden comb that his aunt created the patterns with, but looked down at the rocks with a scowl. He didn't know the first thing about arranging stones.

"Perfect!" Megumi walked up and snatched the comb from his hands, hopping down into the garden.

"Do you know how to do this?" Sasuke checked.

"Oh, yeah," she answered enthusiastically, "I've watched them do it a hundred times at the shrine. I've always wanted to give it a try."

"All right," Sasuke sat down on the patio and crossed his legs, watching his friend push the comb up and down the garden until all the rocks had flipped onto their clean sides in horizontal lines.

As he had seen his father do so many times, Sasuke relaxed his mind and body, contenting himself to just stare down at the stones as they flowed into shifting patterns under the guidance of Megumi's comb. He felt completely at peace, watching ripples form around the island stones. The ripples overlapped an underlying pattern that connected one end of the garden to the other, but they did not disrupt it. He found himself contemplating this and following the paths of the lines from one end to the other. He didn't even notice that Megumi was finished until he felt her sit down next to him, and even then he wasn't sure of how much time had passed since she first took the comb from him. He looked over at her in awe.

"Looks like you've got the hang of meditating now," she raised an eyebrow, "So how'd I do?"

"It looks great," he breathed, "Almost as good as Aunt used to do it. And I think I get it now."

"Do you think you'll fix anything else up around here?" she looked out towards the front garden, "Will you move back when you have a family?"

"Yes," he decided, "I think I will."

"Good," she nodded pointedly, "It will probably make your ancestors happy to see everything clean and new again. This is a good start, though."

"They all worked so hard to keep the estate beautiful," Sasuke realized, "And I've let it fall apart. Aunt and Uncle spent hours in these gardens every day. Their pride and energy and spirit were put into every detail. And look what I've done to it." Without warning he rolled onto his knees and folded until his face touched the splintery wood of the porch, "Megumi, on behalf of my Aunt's memory, thank you for restoring this garden."

"Sasuke," she sounded flustered, "I told you, it's an honor. I just hope your Aunt thinks I did a worthy job. Should we maybe burn some incense?"

"Good idea," he hopped up and retrieved a box of ceremonial incense from the top shelf of the equipment closet.

The adults had used these for special occasions, he remembered. There were plenty of sticks left and they seemed to be in usable condition, so he pulled one out and tucked the box under his arm. With one leap, he jumped out onto an island rock and leaned out to plant the stick of incense as close to the middle of the garden as he could reach without touching the carefully-combed stones. Using a small katon jutsu, he lit the stick and jumped back to the porch. Megumi was standing up now and he backed up to stand next to her. They both watched the wisp of smoke curl and rise into the sky, and Sasuke knew his aunt would appreciate the offering. Megumi clapped her hands once, then bent low into a respectful bow. He quickly did the same.

Once they were standing up again he looked over at her in shame, "Megumi, I should have done this a long time ago. What's wrong with me?"

"You just weren't ready to come back yet," she shrugged, "It's okay. I'm sure they understand."

"There's someplace I need to go now," he determined, "And I want you to come with me."

"Your house?" she guessed.

He nodded and turned towards the door, Megumi turned with him and he reached over to find her hand again. She grasped on tightly and they walked back out through the front garden and onto the street.


	14. Chapter 14

His house was in view now, grand and looming with dark wooden beams. They walked up to it and paused. He looked over at the wall across the alleyway, and saw that the crack in the stone had spread, while the paint had faded. Megumi looked too, but wouldn't know what the significance was.

Tucking the incense box under his other arm, Sasuke reached out and tugged on the sliding door. It was in bad shape, but he finally got it to slide open enough for him and Megumi to squeeze through. Without bothering to remove their shoes, the two children stepped up into the house and Sasuke looked around in shame. There were spider webs everywhere and mold had grown along the walls and ceilings. Dust covered all the furniture and the floor. It was stuffy inside, so Sasuke led them out onto the porch and they followed it around to the back, where Megumi made small noises as she looked out over the once-beautiful garden. Sasuke's heart was pounding and he tried hard not to think of the last time he was here, but the darkness was throbbing at the back of his mind again.

He pulled them into the kitchen and glanced around at the dusty counters and tabletop. He didn't expect to see his mother, but he felt her presence so strongly.

"Sasuke," Megumi squeezed his hand, "Are you all right?"

He realized he was trembling again as he tried to answer, "I..I…"

"Tell me a good memory of this place," she prompted softly.

He blinked a few times, "Well…well, we ate our meals in here together sometimes. My father was usually grumpy and didn't like to hear me ask a bunch of questions. He spent more time talking to my brother about shinobi business. One time when it was just my mother and me, I asked about it. She told me that he paid more attention to my brother in public, but when they were alone, all he talked about was me. I've wondered about that ever since. I wonder what he said to her."

"I'm sure they're proud of you still," Megumi assured him, "Graduating top of the class…"

Sasuke opened the nearest cabinet and pulled out a plate to burn the incense on, "They would have liked you too. You can pay respects with me, so they can meet you."

From the kitchen, he took her back onto the porch and down to the double doors of the conference room. They were closed, and he stopped in front of them, staring at the handles. There were no good memories of this room to latch onto. As a child he hadn't been allowed to play in there, so all he knew of that room was the overheard discussions from it and the events of that final night. He felt like a child again, standing before these doors, frozen in fear over what he might find inside.

Move, he commanded himself just as before, move!

Letting go of Megumi's hand, he reached up and pushed open the doors, cringing at the loud creak they made. His eyes immediately fixated on the exact area of the wood floor, chipped with scratches and still stained brown, where his parents' bodies had lay. Megumi bit back a gasp and grabbed his sleeve. Sasuke forced himself to walk forward, right up to the stain, and set the dish down on top of it. He was fighting the panic and anguish so hard that his movements felt mechanical as he knelt down and pulled the box out from under his arm. He pulled out a stick of incense, but lacked the strength to produce a katon jutsu, so he just stared at it blankly. His vision started to darken, and as it did, his fear grew that he would see a certain figure in the forming shadows.

"Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha," Megumi's voice snapped him back to attention and he looked over to see her on her knees bowing with her forehead to the wood, "My name is Nishiku Megumi. You don't know me, but I'm here to pay respects to the precious people of my friend, Sasuke. I think you would be very proud of him. We're going to be gennin tomorrow, and Sasuke is the best of all of us. He still brings honor to the name of Uchiha, and I know he will avenge the clan so that you can rest in peace. Please give him your blessing and watch him with pride. Thank you for hearing my prayers. It is an honor to meet you."

As her words comforted him, the darkness faded from Sasuke's eyes and he imagined that his parents were listening to his friend's prayer. He stopped imagining them as corpses and saw them as loving, proud parents watching over him. He finally lit the incense and placed it on the plate, waiting until a steady stream of smoke was wafting up before he clapped and bowed low as well. He prayed silently, and Megumi only sat up after he did. That's when he saw the tears on her cheeks.

"You're crying?" he said in surprise, "For my parents?"

"For you," she turned away and wiped her face, "I thought I knew your story, Sasuke, but this…place…being here…I can't imagine what you go through, what kind of things haunt your memory."

He couldn't deny what she was thinking, "This helps, though. Paying honor to them here, it makes me feel right about this place again. I don't have to be afraid of it anymore."

"I'm glad we came then," she nodded, "Even if it was hard."

"I think I have a better understanding of what I need to do now," he stared at the curling smoke, "I realize that I'm more than an avenger, I'm also the caretaker of a legacy."

"That's right," she agreed.

After another quick bow, Sasuke stood up and waited for Megumi to join him. They went back out onto the porch and Sasuke decided to leave the doors open, so he would never have to fear what was behind them again. He set the box of incense down in the doorway, figuring that he would light another stick every time he came back.

"Where will we go now?" Megumi asked as she followed him back into the house.

"There's one more place I want to see," he told her, "We'll go out to the lake."

"That sounds nice," she said.

Back on the streets of the estate, Sasuke reminded himself that they belonged to him. These avenues that were once filled with horror now belonged to him; and he was going to wash them clean of any trace of the dishonor his brother had tainted them with, for the sake of the future Uchiha generations.

The gate in the back wall was chained shut, so they jumped the wall and descended some steps to a dirt road, which they crossed and followed a path down onto an old wooden dock. They sat on the end and dangled their feet over the water, looking out over the lake and at the forest beyond.

"I practiced katon no jutsu here," Sasuke finally spoke, "Practiced for days until my face was singed, all to hear my father say 'that's my boy.'"

"Well, I'm glad you did," she bumped him, "That jutsu's come in handy a few times."

He smiled proudly and looked at the reflection of the sun in the water. It was late afternoon already.

"Are you hungry?" he asked in vain, as he reached back into his backpack and pulled out his lunch.

"Sure," she gave in, "I'm not going to have that career after tomorrow anyway."

"That's better," he praised and handed her half of his sandwich.

As they ate quietly and swung their legs, Sasuke thought about the next step. He had made some important revelations today. He had confessed to Megumi what she meant to him and with her help had revisited the place he had given up on. If it weren't for her, he would never have fully understood the importance of his legacy. She knew she was a precious person to him, but he needed her to be more. With them going separate ways after the weekend, he figured the only way to keep them together was to create a bond stronger than friendship.

"Megumi," he started, his voice shaking, "I was thinking about what I told you earlier about you being my only precious person, and about how you helped me today facing this difficult place again."

"Don't worry, Sasuke," she waved it off casually, "I'm your friend, and I'll stick by you even in the difficult places. You've looked out for me plenty of times before."

"Well, I want to make sure you know, and everyone knows, that I'm looking out for you specially," he couldn't believe how awkward this felt, when she was usually so easy to talk to, "And I thought that since I met your parents, and you introduced yourself to mine…"

He finally looked up at her, and she was staring back at him in surprise – eyes wide and sandwich frozen in front of her parted lips. The embarrassed blush that she was so prone to was already starting to surface on her cheeks.

Sasuke forced himself to speak and winced as he did, "What if you were my girlfriend?"

She waited a moment to lower her sandwich and take a breath, "What if? Well…I suppose if I was, then my parents would be even more freaked out than they already are about my involvement with shinobi; and I would be target #1 in the bingo book of all the girls we know; and I would have to spend a lot more time fixing up the estate with you for your family; and I would have to train much harder in order to keep up with you…"

He frowned and kicked his legs nervously, "Would it be worth it?"

She let out a little laugh and looked up at him with a smile, "Yeah, it would. Why? Are you asking?"

Clenching his jaw tightly, he looked her in the eye and nodded. It was the best he could do. He was not in the habit of putting himself at another person's mercy.

"Hmm," she bit her lip thoughtfully, "Okay."

Her face was completely flushed and pulled back into a contagious smile as she looked away and started eating her sandwich again. Sasuke felt relieved and couldn't fight the smile either.

"Okay," he echoed and cleared his throat, then looked in the opposite direction and finished his lunch.

His heart was swollen with a comfort that seemed so appropriately familiar in this place. He remembered what it felt like to belong to someone and be confident of their love, the way he used to feel with his family. It filled him so completely that he couldn't remember the pain of loneliness anymore, even though he knew he had been consumed by it only a couple months ago.

That day that he and Megumi first really talked to each other was the day Sasuke thought he had reached his limit. He was sure that the specter of his brother had won, laughing at him through his dream, victoriously pointing out that Sasuke had lost everything except hate and pain. Itachi had ordered him to cling to those things, and Sasuke had complied up to now; but he was no longer willing to live on those emotions alone. He was ready to laugh back in Itachi's face. His life was being rebuilt, and he had so much to hold onto at last. His quest was no longer his alone, because Megumi would support him; and with her, he could see a life that extended past revenge. If he had such a future to look forward to and so many goals left to fulfill, he knew that he had no choice but to defeat his brother. Before, he had always been sharply aware of the possibility that he would die in their fated battle, and in fact it had seemed very likely; but he would no longer allow that to be an option. His resolve was stronger than ever.

"Mmm, Sasuke?" Megumi spoke up, "Is this lake safe for swimming?"

"Sure," he thought back, "But the catfish used to get pretty big, so we were always scared of losing our toes, in case one thought it was a bunch of worms."

They both laughed and Megumi stretched her foot down and dipped the end of her shoe into the water, sending out a series of ripples over the surface. In response, a tiny reptilian head popped up several feet away and started gliding towards the dock.

"Oh, no," she suddenly said fiercely and jumped to her feet, backing up a few steps, "Not snakes. Forget it."

"Oh yeah," Sasuke turned to look at her, "You hate snakes."

She sat down again in the middle of the dock, "Warn me if he tries to climb up here."

Sasuke laughed at her, then brought his own legs up and scooted back to sit next to her, "We can go back, if you want."

She glanced up at the sky, squinting as she flicked her eyes between the sun and the horizon, "It's almost time for me to go home, actually. Gotta put in one more evening of work before I tell my parents about my decision."

"You're waiting until tomorrow?" he guessed.

"After graduation," she confirmed, "So that they'll hopefully be in a temporary mood of good will toward shinobi and pride in my hard work."

"Are they even coming?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

She narrowed her eyes, "Well, I'm not sure yet. That's tonight's mission."

"Will you tell them about us?" he wondered.

"No," she laughed, "I need to ease them into this, one shock at a time. I'll save that one for next week, perhaps. They do like you, though, just not as a shinobi."

"Great," he groaned, and rolled up onto his feet.

Megumi stood up next to him and they set off up the hill towards the estate. They jumped over the back wall and found their way to the main street that would lead them down to the front gate. Sasuke was relieved how much easier it was for him to look around now, as the pain was gradually subsiding. He tried not to see the estate for how it presently looked, or how it had looked that night, or even how he remembered it during the good times; he worked instead on imagining what it would be like after he restored it. There was potential here, it was not a dead place anymore.

Megumi must have been thinking the same thing, because as they walked she remarked, "Next time, we should work on the garden. I'll try to find a book on it…"

Sasuke smiled and reached over, catching her hand and linking his fingers through hers; not because he needed the support now, but simply because it felt right. She walked a little closer to him so that their arms were touching as well, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see that she was smiling too.


	15. Chapter 15

They reached the front gate and released their grasp on each other's hands, so they could jump up onto the wall and drop down to the other side. There was a bit more traffic on the main road as they made their way back into the city, so they walked slightly further apart and didn't say much. The route they were taking would lead them past Sasuke's apartment first, and he got an idea.

"Megumi, can we stop someplace before you go home?" he looked over at her.

"Sure," she glanced at the sky, "I still have time. What do you have in mind?"

"My apartment," he answered, "I'm going to give you something to take back to your parents."

"Okay," she fought back a grin, "This should be interesting."

Once they reached the building, she let him lead the way up the stairs to his apartment and faced the ground shyly while he dug for his keys then unlocked the door. He went in first and held the door open for her to follow him. They took their shoes off and Sasuke put on his slippers. He dug out a pair of guest slippers from the coat closet, and had to unwrap them, since they had never been used before. Megumi scooted them onto her feet and they entered the kitchen area first.

"Have a seat," Sasuke told her, and she sat down at the table and looked around curiously at his apartment.

Meanwhile, Sasuke gathered up an envelope, piece of paper, and writing utensils before sitting next to her.

"You're going to write them a letter?" Megumi guessed.

"It's a start," he shrugged and inspected the bristles of his brush before dipping it in the ink.

Using his best handwriting, he wrote out a quick letter thanking Megumi's parents for their hospitality and once again inviting them to the graduation ceremony. He threw in a line about how much he wished his own parents could come, and how lucky his friend was to have family around to acknowledge her hard work.

"Oooh," Megumi raised her eyebrows, "That will guilt them into it for sure."

"That's not all," he pushed the paper away to let it dry and walked back over to one of the cupboards in his kitchen.

This particular cupboard was full of gifts that he'd been given by girls around the holidays. He pushed things aside until he saw a nice box of assorted teas with a ribbon still tied around it. He held it out for Megumi to see.

"Perfect," she breathed, "And they'll have to show up to give you a return gift."

He nodded, and returned to fold the letter and seal it in the envelope. With the envelope tucked neatly under the ribbon on the gift, he handed it to his girlfriend.

"You really are a genius, Sasuke," she took it and put it in her shoulder bag, "Thanks so much."

They walked back to the foyer, where Megumi bent down to put her shoes back on.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" he offered.

"I'll be all right," she assured him, stepping towards the door, "And I'm sure you've been dying to get to your training."

It was true that he did feel weird after going almost an entire day without throwing a single shuriken. There was still time for him to get in a brief work out at the Academy gym, if he headed over soon.

"All right," he agreed, and opened the door for her, "Well, thanks for coming with me today, and listening to everything I had to tell you."

"You're welcome," she gave him the genuine smile that he rarely saw her use with anyone else.

After a quick glance through the open door to see if anyone was watching, Megumi leaned forward and gave Sasuke a quick hug. He squeezed her back with one arm, happy that she had made the move before him. He still wasn't used to initiating affection.

"See you tomorrow," he said as she finally stepped out onto the walkway and started down the stairs.

"See you!" she waved, and bounded down out of sight.

_Afternoon._

"Sasuke-san, congratulations," Mrs. Nishiku mustered up as much enthusiasm as she could.

"Thank you," he bowed, wearing a victorious smile, "I'm so glad you both made it."

Megumi caught up a moment later, skidding to a stop next to him and dropping immediately into a bow before her parents, "Thank you for coming."

"Well, we're glad you finally finished, dear," her father patted her head, which was now covered by the fabric of her forehead protector, "It's been a long journey, but you're finally done."

Sasuke glanced at her, but she shook her head subtly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Nishiku," Iruka-sensei walked up to them through the crowd, "So good to finally meet you. Megumi is such a bright student and a hard worker. You must be so proud."

"Well, we know she tries hard to keep up," Mr. Nishiku chuckled.

"Dad, I graduated at the top," Megumi reminded him.

"Second to the top," her mother corrected, "Naturally, there's no way you can compete with a real shinobi like Sasuke-san."

Iruka-sensei laughed at the exchanged and headed off to greet other parents; but a moment later, Mizuki-sensei wandered over to join their conversation.

"Megumi, it can't be that hard if you were able to place so high," her father rolled his eyes and chuckled, "You'd never keep up in the real shinobi world."

"Actually, we take training at the Academy pretty seriously," Mizuki-sensei defended, "We weren't even able to graduate all the students."

"Who could possibly fail?" Mrs. Nishiku asked skeptically.

"That kid," Mizuki gestured with his thumb and they all turned to look, "Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke saw the blonde boy sitting alone on a swing some distance away from the mingling crowd, watching them forlornly. He was always such a troublemaker that it wasn't a big surprise to Sasuke that Naruto hadn't passed. Someone who wasted so much time goofing off had no business being a shinobi.

"Oh, _that_ kid," Mrs. Nishiki acknowledged with a touch of spite in her voice.

Sasuke looked to Megumi and saw her sympathetic expression change to curiosity as she turned from Naruto to look at her mother. He was confused as well. It sounded like Mrs. Nishiku knew Naruto and was agreeing with Mizuki about something.

"Yes," the teacher continued, "So you see, it's not for everyone; but your daughter, here, really shows potential. I know she'll surprise you with the things she is capable of learning. I have a feeling the whole village will be surprised."

Mr. Nishiku burst out laughing, "Megumi? No, I don't think so."

"Sir," Mrs. Nishiku explained in a more serious tone than her husband, "You do realize that we are civilians. There isn't a single shinobi in our line."

"And I am Mizuki, Megumi's master," he countered, "and I assure you, your line is about to have its first very powerful shinobi."

As her father laughed and her mother sighed, Megumi scowled, "I'm going to get a drink."

Sasuke pivoted to follow her, and heard Mizuki excuse himself as well. The teacher stepped in between the two children and turned his back to Sasuke as they walked.

"Megumi-chan," he heard the man whisper to her, "Are you still willing to study the advanced jutsus if I can get them for you?"

Before Sasuke could hear his girlfriend's answer, a chorus of squeals drowned out everything around him and he turned to see a semi-circle of female classmates closing in on him. He tensed in preparation for the onslaught of hands that suddenly began tugging at him and the overlapping cries.

"Sasuke-kun, you look so handsome with that forehead protector!"

"Sasuke-kun, congratulations on making the highest grades!"

"Sasuke-kun, will you miss me now that classes are over?"

"I hope we're on the same team, Sasuke-kun!"

This started an argument; and when he finally opened his eyes, he saw that Ino and Sakura were in a shouting match with each other now, while the other girls tried to find chances to chime in. He took the opportunity to slink away and stand by Megumi's parents again. Now they were talking to another set of parents about their magazine business, bragging about Megumi's modeling. Sasuke wasn't sure how Megumi planned on breaking it to them now. They weren't nearly as impressed with her as she had counted on them being.

Finally, she returned with a cup of water and stood close to him, while she waited for a break in her parents' conversation.

"What did you tell Mizuki-sensei?" he leaned over and asked her quietly.

She looked proud of herself as she answered, "I told him that I'd work as hard as I could to learn any jutsu he found for me."

"You're going to let him do you a favor like that?" Sasuke asked unsurely.

"He promised me some pretty high-level jutsus," she whispered, "And I'm going to need those if I'm supposed to keep up with you, Sasuke."

He smiled and immediately hid it by looking at the ground. His smiles weren't something he felt like sharing with anyone else yet.

"Yes, she is lovely," the other parents were saying, "What a lucky girl."

"What are you guys talking about?" Megumi suddenly demanded.

"Just your modeling, dear," her mother finally sounded happy, "You'll go so far now that you have the time to really commit."

"Mom, Dad," the girl said seriously, "Can we go to lunch now, like we talked about?"

"Of course, dear, I'm ready to get out of here," Mrs. Nishiku said almost too eagerly.

"We agreed to take Megumi to a celebration lunch," her father explained as he bid farewell to the parents they had been talking to, then he turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke-san, you're more than welcome to join us."

He looked over at Megumi and she gave him an approving nod, so he replied, "Thank you, Mr. Nishiku, that would be very nice."


	16. Chapter 16

_A nice restaurant._

"You sure did order a lot of food, Megumi," her mother looked disapprovingly at the plate in front of the girl that once held a large salad.

"I need my strength," she replied jokingly, "Didn't you hear Mizuki-sensei talk about how powerful I'll be?"

"Yes, it's too bad," Mr. Nishiku shook his head, "That man seemed to have such ridiculous hopes for you."

Sasuke's eyes darted back and forth between the family members. He had determined to stay as quiet as possible while Megumi handled the task at hand. He needed to know that she was at least capable of standing up to her own parents, so that he would feel better about her standing up to Mizuki-sensei.

"Nobody seemed to know about your real career, Megumi," her mother lamented, "I can't believe you didn't talk about it more – it's so important to you."

"Mom," she said seriously, "It's important to you and Dad, I understand, but to me, it was just a job. Not even a hobby…"

"That reminds me," her mother changed the subject, "Before I forget…" she dug around in her large bag and pulled out a box with a ribbon around it and handed it to Sasuke, "We got you a little something, Sasuke-san, for your hobby."

"No, this is too much," he held up his hands.

"No, really, it's nothing," she insisted, and he took it.

The box was made of beautiful wood and he opened it to find three bags of expensive imported cooking spices. He put on a polite smile and bowed his head.

"Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Nishiku," he gave Megumi a warning glance before setting her up, "These are perfect. I'm excited to use them in my cooking. It's my favorite hobby, you know. Every day I look forward to coming home and cooking a nice meal."

Like a well-practiced team, Megumi picked up seamlessly on the transition Sasuke had created for her as she began, "But I don't always look forward to going to work. I really don't think I enjoy it anymore."

"Nonsense, Megumi," her father scoffed, "You're so good at modeling. What else could you do with as much success?"

"Be a shinobi," she answered coolly.

"Now, dear," her mother wasn't amused, "You need to be serious. You are not meant for that world. You'll go so much further in your modeling career."

"But I don't want to," she protested.

"You've had quite enough of what you want," Mr. Nishiku had lost his humor as well, "For the last four years we've allowed you to waste all day at that shinobi academy because you wanted to. We let you have your way, but now it's time to do as you're told."

Megumi looked stunned for a moment, but rallied again, "Why can't you see how important shinobi are? How could you say it's a waste of time?"

"Of course shinobi are important," Mrs. Nishiku cast an acknowledging glance at Sasuke, "But our daughter is not going to be one."

"That's who your daughter is," she declared, "I am a gennin now."

"That is not the daughter we raised," her father fumed, "We will not watch you scrape out a living doing missions. We will not wait around at home wondering if you've been killed or injured every day. We brought you up to be a success – to be our pride."

"Then be proud of me!" she cried, "Be proud of who I am."

"_This_ is not who you are," he thumped his finger forcefully against the forehead protector, and she winced.

Sasuke clenched his fists under the table. He was not comfortable with anyone laying a hand on Megumi, even if it was her father. Fortunately, she moved before he had to and grabbed onto the offending finger.

"Who do you think I am?!" she demanded, and forcefully held her father's finger up to the metal plate, "This is real."

"Megumi, stop this immediately," her mother hissed.

With his finger released, Mr. Nishiku glared daggers and Megumi, then stood up and threw some money down onto the table, announcing, "Time to go."

In silence, the four of them gathered their things and shuffled out of the restaurant into the evening bustle. Although she wouldn't look at him, Sasuke could see the fear on Megumi's face. She had been unable to convince her parents, and was now weighing her options – all of them bad. Worst of all, he had no idea how to help her.

"Sasuke-san," Mrs. Nishiku said in a voice loud enough for the rest of them to hear, "I apologize for our daughter's behavior. She used to be such a lady, but we should have known all this shinobi training would turn her crass and violent."

"Do you think I'm crass and violent?" he replied through clenched teeth.

"Sasuke-san," Mr. Nishiku responded, "You are an elite shinobi, and you understand the hardships that come from that kind of life. You can face those trials with grace and dignity, but our Megumi cannot."

"There are trials," he admitted, "But I would prefer to face them together with her."

"But she's not a shinobi," he insisted, "That's her fantasy."

Megumi shook her head, "Why don't you get it? This is what I've chosen! The Megumi you think I am is the fantasy."

Her mother tightened her expression in warning, "This is a dangerous game you're playing, dear, and it's selfish of you to drag us into it."

Sasuke noticed Megumi's eyes latch onto something up the road and recognized the fire that suddenly lit behind them.

"Mizuki-sensei lives there," she announced, "He'll tell you that you have nothing to worry about regarding our team. He'll tell you how real the possibility is that I will have success as a shinobi. You'll have to acknowledge my decision then."

"And we will tell him that it's not your decision to make," her father said sternly, "You will follow the path we've generously provided you with and be grateful for it."

But Megumi was already hurrying towards the cluster of cabin-style apartments, moving at a determined pace. Sasuke trotted to catch up.

"You know where Mizuki-sensei lives?" he asked in surprise.

"He's told me several times," she answered bluntly, "When he used to offer me private training to improve whatever skill he had picked apart for the day."

Sasuke snorted in disgust. He wished it hadn't come to this.

"Megumi, you're going to embarrass yourself in front of your sensei," Mrs. Nishiku warned as soon as the two adults caught up, "Our answer is not going to change."

Finally Megumi spotted something and walked with purpose toward one particular unit. She knocked rapidly and waited.

"All we can do is apologize to him for pulling her out of the training," Mr. Nishiku said to his wife, "They'll find someone else to put on the team."

Ignoring her father's words, Megumi knocked again and called, "Mizuki-sensei!"

"Maybe it will free up a spot for them to move up that boy who failed," he continued.

If the mood wasn't so tense, Sasuke would have found humor in the absurd idea that Naruto and Megumi would be interchangeable. She didn't appear to be amused, though, and tried the handle, rather than knocking again. The door swung open easily and she stepped inside.

"Mizuki-sensei!" she called and waited.

"Don't be rude, Megumi," her mother hissed again, "Come out of there, this instant."

Sasuke hung back, but her father stepped in and reached out for her arm, but paused, "On second thought, your sensei might actually understand our point of view. Looks like he's a fan."

"What?" Megumi and Sasuke said at the same time and whirled to see what Mr. Nishiku was looking at.

On the cork board by the door was pinned one of Megumi's swimsuit advertisements. Sasuke felt his blood start to boil and saw the color pool into Megumi's cheeks.

"Sensei!" she yelled and marched into the house, shoes and all.

"Megumi, wait!" Sasuke squeezed past her father and hurried after her.

"What are you kids doing?" came her mother's shrill voice from the doorway, but Megumi didn't hesitate and Sasuke kept right behind her.

They passed a couch and coffee table that was littered with the scraps of magazine ads that had been carefully cut out and arranged on the table top. Some of them featured Megumi. She paused to observe this hastily-abandoned craft before passing through a short hallway and throwing open the doors to a bathroom and a closet before discovering a photography dark room, glowing dim red.

"Oh no," she said quietly and rushed in.

"Megumi!" Sasuke went after her immediately.

"No, no," she covered her mouth with a shaking hand.

Sasuke followed her eye line to a batch of photos that were hanging up to dry, and started to make sense of the pictures. They were from odd angles, framed by windowsills or foliage, but always zoomed as close as possible on an unaware subject – Megumi. The candid shots invaded some very private moments, which involved her sleeping, changing clothes, and bathing, among other things. Sasuke stared in shock at the photographs, many clearly capturing his girlfriend's entire nude or underwear-clad body. He tore his eyes away from the hanging images and saw even more photos taped to the wall. He recognized himself in a couple of them, taken during the survival exam. So Mizuki had been following them, and left them to fight off every challenge unaided while he snapped pictures. Sasuke realized now the truth behind the figure he had seen in the trees at Megumi's house. Some of these photos may have been taken that very night, and Sasuke had missed a chance to stop it.

Rage flowed up and darkened his vision of the already red room. He was supposed to protect Megumi, and instead she had been left vulnerable and exposed to this creep so many times. Nobody was supposed to look at her that way, but Sasuke knew their teacher must have spent hours lurking outside her window and staring at the photographs in this room. His filthy eyes moving over her body – the body that Sasuke had determined to protect. His fists were so tight, they were shaking now as his mind tried to sort through the anger and form a plan.

"Oh, a dark room," Mr. Nishiku's voice exclaimed, "He'll definitely understand if he appreciates photog…"

As his voice trailed off, Sasuke and Megumi both turned to look at him. Mrs. Nishiku pushed past him to approach Megumi.

"What has gotten into you, Megumi?!" she demanded, not even noticing her surroundings, "Invading someone's house like a criminal. Is this what they taught you in that Academy? Is this what you got good grades on?!"

Megumi took her hand down from her face and held it out towards the drying line, her voice wavering with pain, "Is this what you want instead?! Is this how people will see me and think of me?!"

"Oh, dear," her mother finally noticed the photos and shook her head in disbelief, "What…what is going on here?"

"Your teacher did this?" her father growled, "This is what a shinobi sensei from your precious academy uses his training for?!"

"This is because of my modeling, not his training!" she shrieked, "I'm in the magazines, he can just pick me up and look at me any time he wants, until those photos aren't enough and _this_ happens!"

"It just means you're a good model, dear," her mother tried to calm her down.

"How could you want to be a shinobi now, huh?!" Mr. Nishiku pointed to the wall, "If this is what your greatest supporter really thinks of you?"

She choked back a sob.

"No!" Sasuke burst, "_I_ am her greatest supporter! Mizuki's actions don't reflect at all on her ability to be a shinobi."

"Well it's obvious that he was more interested in looking at her than training her," Mrs. Nishiku backed up towards the door, "And that should make it perfectly clear which path she's more cut out for."

"I don't want to be looked at anymore!!" she sobbed and swung a punch towards the wall.

Sasuke braced himself as the impact of her chakra-infused fist sent pieces of the wall flying in every direction and photographs fluttering down like leaves. As the air cleared, he hadn't moved, but he could see that her parents had stumbled back against the far wall and were looking at her in horror.

"Y-you," he father stuttered, walking forward with a shaking finger pointed at his daughter, "You are never allowed back to that Academy or near any of those teachers!"

The force of her own blow must have stunned Megumi, because Sasuke could see that she was no longer sobbing. Her muscles were rigid and her eyes glazed over, just the way she looked during a fight when adrenaline was kicking in. She didn't even flinch when her father grabbed the cloth of her forehead protector and yanked it off her head, tossing it to the floor. Sasuke started to step forward, but her arms moved quickly, crossing over her chest to so that she could pull a weapon from the pouch strapped to her bicep. A split second later, she was holding a kunai in front of her face. Unable to follow her movements the way Sasuke could, the sudden appearance of the blade stunned her father.

"Do you hear me?!" he yelled again, only this time with a tinge of fear as he pointed at her discarded forehead protector, "Look at the violent mess you've become in the name of ninjutsu! You are finished, do you understand?! You will not receive another minute of training!"

"I will _not_," she shouted back, "Take another photograph!!"

Before anyone could move, she had plunged the edge of the kunai into top corner of her forehead and whipped it down diagonally across her face. In an instant, Sasuke appeared between her and her father and seized her by the wrists.

"Megumi!" he snapped and her eyes blinked a few times, finally locking with his in surprise.

For a moment, it looked like she hadn't been injured; but then, all at once, her skin began to split open and blood poured from the gash across her face. A crimson stream ran from her chin down onto her chest. As the curtain of blood flowed over her left eye from the part of the gash above it, she finally winced and doubled over.

"Megumi!" her mother screamed and ran over at last, "We have to take her to the hospital."

"Darn it, Megumi," Sasuke growled and pulled off his arm warmers, which already had blood on them.

He balled them up, shoving the wad of fabric into her blinded face, and held it firmly in place as she struggled and gave a muffled cry.

"Stop moving!" he barked at her, "I need to put pressure on this."

She held still and brought her hands up to cover his. He pulled his hands out of the way and let her hold the cloth in place herself.

"All right, I've got her," Mr. Nishiku announced and scooped his daughter up into his arms.

He hurried out of the room with Mrs. Nishiku right beside him. Sasuke hung back for a moment and caught his breath. This had been a disaster. He had failed in so many ways to help Megumi, and now her fate was even more uncertain than before. There was no clear path for her anymore, and Sasuke had no idea where he could fit in. He bent down and picked up her forehead protector, tucking it into his backpack on top of the cooking spices. Glancing lastly at the crumbling wall, he decided that Mizuki's property was the least of their worries right now. Finally he jogged to catch up with Megumi's family as they carried her to the hospital.


	17. Chapter 17

_The next morning._

A commotion of voices jolted Sasuke awake, to his annoyance. He was very uncomfortable, sleeping in this chair in the waiting room, and the noise didn't make things any better. As the voices jabbered, he caught a few familiar names, though, that caused him to listen more attentively without being bothered to open his eyes.

"Yeah, they found them, all three, in the woods."

"Did Naruto have the scroll?"

"Yeah, but Iruka-sensei is confirming that it was Mizuki-sensei that made him do it?"

"Made him steal the Scroll of the Forbidden Seals? Why?

"To frame the kid, of course. He tricked Naruto into stealing the scroll and he was going to kill him and take it for himself, but Iruka showed up just in time."

"No, I heard it was actually Naruto that defeated Mizuki-sensei."

"What? How did he do that?"

"Beat him to a pulp, apparently: massive contusions, broken bones, internal bleeding."

"What about Naruto, is he all right?"

"Yeah, a little scratched up and dirty. They're checking him out now, but he says he feels fine."

"How could he beat up a jounin without getting any injuries at all?"

"I guess when Iruka gets out of the operation room and gives his report, we'll all know. But it sounds like Mizuki is going straight to jail once he's healed."

"That's just crazy…"

And the yapping continued, but Sasuke got up and wandered back to Megumi's room to see if she out of the second round of procedures yet. Sure enough, she was lying in bed asleep, and her parents were nowhere to be seen, so he walked in quietly and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

"Sasuke?" she groaned.

"Yeah, it's me," he answered and stood up so they could look at each other, "How did the second procedure go?"

"They couldn't reduce the scar," she sighed in disappointment.

"Do your parents know yet?" he checked.

"No," she shook her head, "They haven't been back since I went in."

She looked up at him in defeat, and his chest tightened. The bandages wrapped around her head covered everything except her eyes, mouth, and chin; but that was all he needed to see to know that she was scared. And again, it hurt him that he didn't know how to help her.

He shook his head and gave a half-hearted chuckle, "What were you thinking, dummy?"

"It all seemed logical at the time," she lamented, "I thought if I put an ugly mark across my face, nobody would want to look at me. Nobody would want to take…pictures of me."

"Hey, stop it," he scolded, "You don't need to worry about Mizuki-sensei anymore. Something happened last night."

"Yeah," she nodded, "I punched down his wall."

"No, really," Sasuke raised his eyebrows, "He's here in the hospital now. Apparently he tried to trick Naruto into stealing a forbidden scroll for him. Iruka-sensei got involved somehow too, but in the end, Naruto beat Mizuki-sensei to a pulp."

"Really?" her eyes widened in surprise, "Uzumaki Naruto did? Why?"

"Who knows," he shrugged, "But how much do you want to bet he was trying to steal that scroll for you?"

"Oh, wow," Megumi let the pieces fall into place, "That's why he wasn't home last night."

"Apparently," Sasuke smiled, "But the point is that Mizuki-sensei is headed for prison after this, so you don't have to worry about him bothering you anymore. You'll have a different team leader on Monday. Everything is looking better."

"Hmm," half her mouth pulled up into a smile, "I'll have to send Naruto a gift basket or something."

"Your parents have no choice now, you know," Sasuke pointed out, "You can't go back to modeling with a scar, so you'll have to stick with shinobi training."

She sighed, "I still don't think they'll accept it that easily, Sasuke. They're going to continue to fight me."

"You'll keep fighting back, though, won't you?" he made sure, "This is what you really want?"

"It is," she replied confidently, "I'm not going to back down, no matter what."

He smirked, "Well, try to come out of the next argument without hurting yourself. You don't need to prove any more points about how stubborn you are."

Megumi gave him a sarcastic look, then tensed suddenly and her eyes flicked towards the door, "Oh, they're coming."

Sasuke groaned and backed away from the bed, "I don't know if I should be around for another fight. Your parents stress me out."

"Don't leave me alone!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

"Fine," he looked around and decided on the room's small closet as a good spot to wait the storm out undetected.

Sasuke leaned back against the wall and folded his arms, watching the scene through the slight crack he had left in the doorway. Megumi's parents walked in not a moment after he was safely in his hiding place. It was suspiciously quiet for a long time and Sasuke squinted to see what was he could read from the family's faces. Megumi, of course, had that stubborn look in her eyes and her jaw set with determination. Her parents stood close to each other, but several steps away from the bed, and stared back at her with icy expressions.

"So this is it," her father finally said with a voice as cold as his eyes, "You've ruined the career we built for you."

Megumi didn't respond, but her lips tightened a bit.

"You've changed, Megumi," her mother shook her head bitterly, "You're not the girl we raised anymore, and now you've completely turned your back on your family. Thrown away all our hard work and hopes for you."

"I'm who I've always been," she replied in a steady voice, "You just refused to see me as anything other than what _you_ wanted. You've never acknowledged who I really am."

"And this is who you are?" Mr. Nishiku flipped his hand towards the bed, "A little girl with silly shinobi dreams whose family has to visit her in the hospital?"

"This is exactly what we always feared," Mrs. Nishiku lowered her voice, "Seeing our beautiful girl in bandages. This is the future you want to inflict on us."

"It wont be like this– ," Megumi started.

"Naïve child," her father interrupted impatiently, "You don't know anything about the world you're getting into. We've seen what it does to families and we did everything we could to keep it from happening to ours. I warn you, we will _not_ suffer for your decision."

She just stared at him unwaveringly.

"Megumi," her mother took a deep breath, "Is this still your decision?"

She nodded and there was a long pause during which Mrs. Nishiku took hold of her husband's arm and they exchanged a look.

"Then, Megumi," her father said sternly, "You have decided to go on alone. We want no part in this new life you have chosen. You are not the daughter we thought we had, and we cannot pretend to accept you as our daughter after this."

Finally her expression faltered and she blurted, "What?"

Sasuke drew in a sharp breath. He had never imagined it would go this way.

"You would doom us to a life of suffering," her mother explained, "Watching you struggle and waiting around for news of your death. We would rather face that hardship in this moment and get it over with."

"You want me to die now?" she sat up, losing hold of the composure she had begun the argument with.

Sasuke's heart raced and he stood up straight, ready to interfere if anything violent happened.

"You die when you please," her father narrowed his eyes, "But as of this minute, you are dead to us. We will not acknowledge you any longer and you are not welcome near our family."

Sasuke froze and his mouth dropped open. He could not believe a father would say those words to a child. His own heart felt like it was breaking, so he couldn't begin to fathom what Megumi was feeling. She appeared to be frozen in shock. Her parents took a couple steps back towards the door so that Sasuke could no longer see them.

He heard her mother's voice, though, cold and cruel, "Your savings are being used to cover this hospital bill, and you can take your things from your room whenever you want, but we don't want to see you again. Try using some of your ninjutsu to do it."

"Good luck, Megumi," came her father's farewell, just before the sound of the door closing.

Sasuke's head throbbed and he leaned back against the wall again, staring at the unmoving figure of his girlfriend. He didn't know what to do. He recalled the things people did to try and comfort him after his family was murdered, but was there anything that would comfort a person who had been completely rejected and abandoned by a family that was still alive? He was terrified that Megumi was destined to go through the same kind of loneliness that he had. It was a horrible sentence, and one that he would never want someone precious to him to experience. Right now, he knew that he was possibly the only thing standing between her and that very fate. Gathering his nerves, he pushed the closet door open and walked to the end of her bed, positioning himself into the line of sight that she was still frozen in.

"Megumi," he said sternly, "You're going to be all right."

She finally started breathing again, and fixed upon him with confused eyes and a desperate quiver in her voice, "Sasuke?"

He moved around to the side of her bed and as soon as he was in reach, she grasped onto him almost painfully. He pushed against her hold on his arm until it forced her back down into a lying position.

"Get a hold of yourself, Megumi," he kept his tone serious but not mean, "Breathe."

She took several deep, meditative breaths; and her fingers gradually loosened their grip. He could see by the change in her eyes that she was burying things, pushing her strongest reactions down and numbing herself as much as possible. They had been taught this in the Academy once during a lecture on dealing with emotional stresses during a mission. The guest speaker had given many examples of shinobi that lost close comrades before their very eyes but still kept themselves focused enough to complete the mission. It had been an unpleasant possibility for them to prepare for, and now it stung Sasuke to watch his closest friend run through the exercise right in front of him.

The life in her eyes was gone and her expression a mask of stability when she finally looked at him and asked in an emotionless tone, "Where am I going to go?"

"We'll think of something," he promised her, "You wait here until you're discharged. I'm going to get your things from your house."

Panic flared up in her voice for a moment, "You're going to leave?!"

He squeezed the hand she had suddenly grasped his with, "I'll be fast, Megumi, don't worry. Everything will be gone before your parents even make it back to your house."

"Then you'll come back here?" she made sure, and he watched her struggle against the panic that had temporarily gained some ground.

"Yes," he said definitively, "As fast as I can."

She finally won the struggle and nodded with composure, "Okay."

Just like the teacher had said, a new strength was formed when one successfully held down their emotions. It stirred Sasuke's heart to see that strength in Megumi's eyes now. Almost in direct response to her suppression, he felt his own emotions start to rise up and a very strong urge came over him, burning from his chest to his face. As he tried to sort out what to do with this urge, he must've adopted a very conflicted expression because Megumi narrowed her eyes.

"Sasuke?" she tilted her head, "If you hurry, then I think I'll be okay. You can go."

"Okay?" his voice came out weakly as he looked at her face and let the urge overwhelm him.

"Okay," she echoed.

Losing his logical mind and acting on impulse, he reached up with the hand that Megumi wasn't holding and placed it against her bandaged cheek to help guide himself, then bent down and clenched his eyes shut until he felt his lips bump into hers. He relaxed and leaned solidly into the kiss, turning her face slightly with his hand. Her lips felt hot and her cheek burned beneath his fingers, so he knew she was blushing deep red under the bandages. Once his whim was satisfied and his head cleared, Sasuke closed the kiss and pulled his lips back from her mouth until he was standing upright again with his eyes open.

There was a heavy moment where neither of them could find anything to say, so Sasuke retracted his hands and started backwards towards the door. Megumi closed her eyes, and he realized that she didn't want to see him go. Taking the hint, he slipped out the door quickly before she opened her eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

_Megumi's room._

Her belongings fit into a reasonably-sized pile in the center of her bedroom floor, and Sasuke was carefully wrapping the length of a sealing scroll around the diameter of the pile. With the scroll finally encompassing its future contents properly, Sasuke decided to double-check the house for anything that she might need and her parents wouldn't miss. He knew he still had a little time to do so. Mr. and Mrs. Nishiku had been busy discussing something with the clerks at the front desk when Sasuke left the hospital. With speed and agility he had jumped from building to building, making it across town in a fraction of the time that it would take the adults to walk home.

As irritated as it made him, Sasuke had recognized Megumi's bedroom window from the pictures in Mizuki's dark room, and set to work right away. Now, his second sweep of the room produced nothing else to add to the pile. Every shelf and drawer was bare except the notebook lying on her desk, from which he was reading her notes on sealing techniques. Between seeing her do it once and reviewing it from her writing, he was confident he could get it right.

He scoured the house one last time as quickly as he could, since he was anxious to get back and be with Megumi. His heart was racing and charging emotion through his chest. Everything felt so real now, as if he had been in a daydream before and was only now finally aware of the world. He wasn't sure if it had been the thrill of his first kiss or the realization that someone was suddenly depending on him, but something had woken him up . If this was the same sense of purpose one felt on a mission, he was anxious to gather his team and get going. But until then, he did have a mission, and that was to take care of a very important person.

He had promised her he'd hurry back, but the minutes were ticking by. Finally, he decided there was nothing else from the house she needed; so he returned to the bedroom, read along with Megumi's notes, and sealed the pile into the scroll. He tucked the scroll into his backpack along with the notebook , then hopped out the window into the nearest tree and started back towards the hospital via rooftops and balconies within jumping distance. He hoped Megumi had been able to contain her emotions during the loneliness of his absence.

On his way into the building, he was in such a hurry that he nearly ran over Naruto, who was on his way out. Their shoulders bumped violently, and they both shot each other warning glares. Sasuke was glad that Naruto had defeated Mizuki, but he was very skeptical about how much of a hand the boy actually had in it. How could the dunce of the classroom defeat a jounin without getting injured? It didn't matter who got Mizuki, though, as long as he was no longer a threat to Megumi.

When Sasuke strode back into her room, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in her bloody clothes, apparently waiting for him. Sasuke could see from her posture that she was not all right. She tried to turn her face away, but he had already caught a glimpse of her rid-rimmed eyes, and he knew she had lost it while he was gone.

"I'm sorry," he felt bad, "I tried to hurry."

"Don't worry about it, Sasuke," her voice was horse, "You're fine. Did you get my stuff?"

"Yeah," he stuck his thumbs under the straps of his backpack, "I put it all in a scroll, like you probably would have done."

"Good thinking," she nodded her head and let it stay facing the ground, "So where should I go?"

"We can go to my apartment while we figure it out," he offered, "You need to change your clothes and eat something."

He watched her take a deep breath to gather energy before pushing herself off the bed onto her legs. She managed to keep up with his brisk pace as they left the hospital and headed for his apartment, but she never looked up from the ground or tried to talk.

_Evening._

There was a warm feeling in Sasuke's chest as he maneuvered around the kitchen; it was a comfortable happiness that accompanied his new sense of purpose. Megumi was presently in the bath, and he hoped it would refresh her as much as his turn had. Now, clad in a clean t-shirt and pair of shorts and shaking the water out of his hair every few minutes, he deftly juggled dishes and ingredients as he prepared a slightly-larger dinner than normal. He had bathed first because Megumi wanted a chance to go through her recovered belongings and pick out a fresh set of clothes. By the time he was through with his bath, she had set aside a small pile of necessities and resealed everything back into the scroll. She looked exhausted when she finally slipped into the bathroom and he headed to the kitchen to start on dinner.

That was at least 45 minutes ago, and Sasuke now had everything dished up onto two plates on the kitchen table and was busying himself with washing the pots and pans he had used. At last, out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone enter the kitchen and turned to get a better look at her so he could gauge her mood. She was dressed in a loose tank top and long cloth pants and her hair was twisted up into a towel. There were fresh bandages wrapped across her face. Sasuke noticed that her posture still reflected the defeat she must have felt, but her expression was stronger and her eyes had a certain sharpness. He remembered cycling through all the same feelings as well, and in the end it was the cold cynicism that had stuck with him.

"Shall we eat?" he turned off the water and dried his hands.

"Yes, please," Megumi answered. Her voice was still a bit hoarse and softer than usual, but not as robotic as when she had steeled herself at first in the hospital.

They sat down at the table and ate in silence for the first few minutes. Megumi was a smart girl, and given the amount of time she had had to calm down and think things through, Sasuke was sure she had come up with a plan for her living situation. Of course, he had thought up a few options also.

"So," he broke the silence, "What's the plan?"

She looked up at him and searched his eyes very carefully before answering, "First of all, I just want to thank you, Sasuke, for sticking by me and being so hospitable. I really owe you one."

He was glad to see the strength behind her eyes as she spoke. In the hospital, her green eyes had hardened with a cold steely strength as she willed herself into keeping her composure, but this was a warmer look of determination. It was finally that genuine stubbornness that he was used to seeing from her in difficult situations.

"And second," she paused, looking off to the side to deliberate, "Well, I'll just get a cheap apartment once my team starts doing steady missions."

"And in the mean time?" Sasuke knew by the way she avoided looking at him now that she was hiding something.

"I've got options," she bristled defensively, "Don't worry about it."

He narrowed his eyes, "Like what?"

"Don't worry about it," she repeated, finally looking him in the eye sternly.

"Megumi," he sighed, "You just said you owe me one. Well, I'm calling on that favor. Tell me what your options are."

Instead of answering, she scowled and pointed out, "I thought we agreed not to worry about each other's business."

"That was when we were friends," Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Things are different now. As your boyfriend, it's my duty to take care of you. I need to know where you're going."

This seemed to bring her resistance to a screeching halt, and she took a few bites of food before finally shrugging, "It'll just be for a little while, until I save up for rent. I'll make up with Sakura-san or Ino-san and see if I can stay with them. Or maybe I can secretly stay in our lunch attic for a while."

"Absolutely not," he said flatly, "None of those are acceptable options. We should go with my plan."

"What's your plan?" she was trying not to let her frustration show.

The first plan that had popped into Sasuke's mind back at the hospital was for Megumi to stay with him. It was the safest option for a girl on her own, and it assured them time together even if they were placed on separate teams. But it was also socially inappropriate and scandalous in a way that was unbefitting of either of their characters. After dismissing this first plan almost immediately, he had spent a lot of time coming up with a second plan that was so perfect he was sure she had thought of it too, but would never in a million years have the forwardness to suggest herself.

"My plan," he explained, "Is for you to live at the Uchiha estate. You can pick any house you like, and you'd be free to go anywhere on the grounds. Of course you wouldn't need to pay rent, so we could move you in immediately."

"Sasuke," as he expected, she must have thought of it as well, because she sounded more humbled that surprised, "That's really too–"

"There's more," he interrupted, "Your parents were right about shinobi making very little money; so to be sure that you're taken care of, I will also pay you a monthly salary if you promise to fix things up around the estate little by little."

This part did stun her, and she was frozen in silence for a bit.

"Do you accept?" Sasuke prompted her.

"How will I ever pay you back for all this?" she asked weakly, looking down at her food in shame.

She had already done a lot for him that she probably didn't understand, and he didn't feel the need to explain.

"Just help me restore my family's grounds," he answered, "You did a good job on the rock garden. I'm not sure if I want to go back there alone to do the rest, and I don't feel right about hiring some impersonal contractors to do it. I really want the new estate to have your touch."

Megumi set her jaw in determination and nodded, "All right, Sasuke, I'll stay at the estate and I'll work on restoring it whenever I'm not on a mission. You can give me any directions you want and I'll carry them out. I promise I won't let you or your family down."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, then quickly stood and walked to the refrigerator, pretending to look for something to drink. He didn't want her to see him smile. Maybe she wasn't ready to be cheerful again yet, but he couldn't hide his excitement. He was finally going to do something honorable for his ancestors by working with Megumi to bring the property back to life. With her living there, he would feel far more comfortable visiting. After all these years, he was finally acting like a worthy heir to the Uchiha name. And on top of all that, Megumi would have a place to live and money to spend. She wouldn't have to worry about her parents or Mizuki-sensei anymore, and the two of them could visit each other as often as they wanted. Everything had worked out perfectly. Once his smile was under control again, he grabbed a bottle of milk and returned to the table.

"Are we going to head over there tonight?" Megumi asked.

Sasuke groaned slightly, "Well, to be honest, I don't know if I'd really like to go back there in the dark just yet. We've got all day tomorrow, so we should move you in then. If you think it's all right, you can stay here for just tonight."

"That would be all right," she agreed, "I feel much better with you nearby."

As the familiar blush began to fade into view between the bandages, Megumi bent down and began eating again quickly. Sasuke covered his mouth to hide his smile. Things were going to be all right, and even Megumi was visibly relieved. She would be back to normal again in no time.

After dinner was cleared and the dishes were washed, Megumi disappeared into the bathroom to take her hair out of the towel and brush it. Sasuke started digging around in his closet for spare blankets and made a crude bed from them on the floor at the foot of his actual bed. When Megumi emerged from the bathroom with her hair down, she walked straight to the makeshift bed and sat down on it.

"Hey," Sasuke turned from where he was adjusting the settings on his fountain, "I'm sleeping there."

"I think you've done enough for me," she replied stubbornly, "You don't have to give up your bed as well. I'm going to sleep down here."

"Absolutely not," he marched over and plopped himself down on the other half of the blankets, "You're the guest, so you get the bed."

"It's _your_ bed," she argued, "I won't take it from you."

"And what kind of man would I be to make an injured lady sleep on the floor?" he folded his arms.

"I'm fine!" she blushed, "I'll be just as comfortable down here as you would."

Sasuke stood up, and for a moment she looked triumphant, but he was only walking to the wall to turn off the light. A couple seconds later, he was stretching himself out across the floor bed, trying to nudge Megumi aside.

"Sasuke!" she protested, until he had scooted her all the way off the blankets and she was sitting on the floor.

It was silent for a minute, except for the sounds of the fountain, while Megumi sat cross-legged next to the blankets and stared down at Sasuke. He could feel the weight of her eyes and tried to make sure his face looked as stubborn as hers. Finally, he heard her move and opened one eye, only to find that she was laying down on the floor next to his blankets with her back to him. He glared at the back of her head.

"Don't be a pain, Megumi," he sighed, "If you feel like you owe me something, then do what I want."

She rolled over to look at him, "You know I owe you a lot."

For a moment he lost himself in her gaze, but quickly recovered and ordered, "Then go sleep on the bed."

She slowly sat up, but didn't move. Sasuke thought she looked very tense, but not upset, and felt some kind of discomfort between them.

"What?" he finally asked, after catching her eye.

Megumi looked at him thoughtfully, but then stood up quickly, "Nothing."

"Are you okay?" he checked, hoping that he hadn't really upset her. For some reason he kept assuming she was recovering faster than someone in her position should be, and was probably not being as gentle as he needed to be.

"Sure," she replied, and he heard her climb onto the bed.

"I know you have a lot to worry about," he struggled to sound sensitive, "And I don't want to be one of those things. Are you mad at me?"

"Quite the opposite," she answered weakly.

Sasuke made a face. What was that answer supposed to mean? If she was happy, then why was she acting so tense?

Following his silence, he heard the exasperation in her voice, "I'm not good at this kind of thing. You're a much better leader."

"Leader?" he repeated, "What are you talking about?"

"You're bold and confident," he could hear her moving, "Not embarrassed or second-guessing."

"What is it that you're second-guessing?" he suddenly felt nervous.

"Remember at the hospital?" she leaned out over the foot of the bed so she was looking down at him, "When you just…suddenly…"

Her hair fell over her shoulder and Sasuke lifted his hand to hold it back from obstructing the view. Now he knew what she was talking about, and his heart was definitely pounding at double strength.

"Yes," he gave her an apologetic look, which he was not good at, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just intruded like that."

"No, that's what I mean about you being bold," Megumi struggled, "It's good. I wish I were more like that."

"Why?" was all he could get out around the anxious lump in his throat.

"Well, like tonight," even in the dark, he could see her blushing between the bandages around her face, "I start thinking that you'll be mad or I'll be embarrassed, but I really just…want to kiss you goodnight."

He was sure he was blushing as well, "What's so embarrassing about that?"

"You're not a romantic guy," she tilted her head, causing more hair to spill over onto his arm, "I can't tell if you'd like it or not. That's why it's better if you're the leader."

The message was clear: she wanted him to initiate the moves. Sasuke had felt very unsure about making moves at all before, since, as she noticed, he wasn't naturally very romantic; but her trust in him filled him with emotion, and her relinquishing of control to him filled him with boldness. With his heart returning to a steady cadence, he accepted her unspoken request with confidence.

"Okay," he said, and lifted the hand that had been directing her hair. He ran his fingers through her hairline so that they wrapped around the side of her head, then used this hold to pull her down gently, sitting up a little to meet her half-way.

Their lips connected and held onto the kiss for a few seconds, then Sasuke laid back down and slid his fingers out of her hair.

"Good night," she said quietly through a big smile, and disappeared back over the corner of the bed.

His chest burned with pride at the sight of her smile again and with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. For years he had imagined that this feeling would only come after revenge; he couldn't believe there was anything else that could make him feel this complete. When he was with Megumi, he felt like he was finally alive after a long coma; and when he kissed her, everything else in the world was inconsequential. His days of living in blind loneliness were over; his nightmares had no hold on him anymore. Sasuke felt like there was no way his heart would be capable of hate or fear again. And just maybe the possibility for a normal life and love again would be a stronger motivation than hate when it came to defeating Itachi.


	19. Chapter 19

_Late Sunday morning._

"We'll have the main gate fixed, so that we can go in and out by it," Sasuke said from where he and Megumi were standing on the wall overlooking the Uchiha estate, "I'll tell the police not to do weekly patrols anymore. You'll be in charge of keeping the riff raff out."

"No problem," she gave him a determined smile.

Sasuke glanced at her smile, impressed that she was able to appear so normal again so soon. Normal and yet different. Megumi had always come across as reserved and serious, like the struggling student she was; but now she looked like a ninja, and she stood there surveying the estate proudly, as if it were her first mission. She was wearing a clean set clothes that were similar in style to the ones she used to wear to the Academy and her hair up in a ponytail which hung down her waist. Her face was still wrapped in bandages, but her forehead protector was tied around the top of her head like a bandana, gleaming brightly. Sasuke was wearing his too, folded into a strip that covered just his forehead with his hair hanging over the top. It made him feel accomplished, just to be able to wear the symbol of the shinobi at last.

"Sasuke," she glanced at him, "How would you feel if I decided I wanted to live in your old house?"

Somehow he had been expecting this, "That would be all right. I'd rather associate it with you now anyway."

She looked away shyly again and jumped down from the wall. He dropped down next to her and they started walking silently. He could see that her eyes were darting from place to place and she was deep in thought, probably taking inventory of all the projects she wanted to start on.

"You'll have to show me where I can find tools and materials," she started, "and maybe choose the things you want fixed up first, so we can prioritize."

"We'll save the houses and shops for last," Sasuke reasoned, "Nobody will be needing those for a while. We should focus on the places that you and I will use, or that have important meaning: the gardens, the dock, the paths, the training grounds, and of course the main house."

"Can we go there first?" she checked.

"Sure," he agreed, and led the way.

The old house still looked ominous to him, but he wasn't nearly as nervous this time. He imagined Megumi living there now and decorating it to her tastes. It would never be dark again.

"We'll have to fix this door," Sasuke grunted as he struggled to slide open the front door once more.

Megumi bent down and looked at the track, "The wood is rough and looks a bit rotten. I could probably just sand it down with some tools…"

"I'll get you whatever you need," he promised, and they both stepped into the entryway and paused to look around at the dust, cobwebs, and mold.

"I'll need a broom," she said softly, "and lots of rags and cleaning solutions."

Sasuke could feel her excitement now, "It'll take some work to clean up, but it's a good house. And now it's your home."

"My home," she breathed, then stepped forward, "I can't wait to get started! Show me where everything is."

"The porch runs around the outside of the entire house, and there are plenty of gardens and things for you to work on," he pointed to a doorway to their left that led out to the porch, but this time he decided to take her through the center hallway, "This is the main room, we just used it for playing, doing homework, and relaxing. If the furniture is bad, we can buy new pieces."

"I'll see how they clean up first," Megumi ran her finger along the dusty top of a low table.

"Here's the kitchen," Sasuke started down the hallway and pointed into the first room on the left, "And the toilet next. And then there's my old room." He slid open the door and took in the sight.

"Oh," Megumi stuck her head in and looked around, "It's empty."

He shifted uncomfortably, "When I left the estate, I took all my things; but I never touched any of the other rooms."

Although he resisted, he couldn't help but recall the feelings of that return trip. Seeing the empty shelves and dresser drawers still hanging open, Sasuke remembered being a distraught child, frantically trying to salvage what he could and get out of there as fast as possible. It was the beginning of his solitary lifestyle.

"Since it's bare, it will be the easiest to clean," Megumi noted slowly, "Would you mind if I put all my things in here first?"

"I don't mind," he felt relieved that she would cover all traces of the bad memories he had of this room, and reached into his backpack to get the scroll that contained her belongings, "After we clean it, it will be all ready for you to move in. Every other room still needs to have the contents boxed up."

Megumi smiled and set the scroll on the nearest dresser, "So I'll live in your old room. Where will you stay when you come to visit?"

"There's a guest room," he answered, and moved back into the hall, "We're getting to it, but next is the closet; and it should have all the supplies we need for cleaning up the house."

"Perfect," she peered into the huge closet with him, "We can get it all out later when we're done with the tour."

Sasuke escorted her to the end of the hallway, where a pair of beautiful doors slid open onto the porch. They left these open, to let the wind air out the house and to provide some light, though the sky was beginning to grow dark with clouds. Moving down the opposite side of the hallway, Sasuke opened the first door to show Megumi the master bedroom. He hadn't been allowed in this room as a child and he didn't want to go in now, but he told Megumi she was welcome to make it into whatever she wished. Next was the guest room, and he decided to bring some of his things over to personalize it so that Megumi wouldn't feel so alone in the house and he would be more comfortable when he visited. Without even touching the door, he quickly led the way past Itachi's room, merely naming it so that she would be aware. He had no idea what she would do with this room, but it was the one place he didn't plan to help her clean out. After that was the bathroom, with a large tub that was currently full of mold and algae. Megumi groaned, but Sasuke promised to clean this room first while she worked on her bedroom. Finally, they were back in the main room and took a side hallway to the fancy entertaining room with the ornate paper doors. Sasuke was surprised that none of the expensive decorations in this room had been stolen over the years. He enjoyed watching his friend's awed reaction to the elaborate pieces that betrayed just how wealthy Sasuke's family had been.

"Across the hall is the study," he drew her attention towards the opposite door.

"Oh, wow," she looked even more impressed by this room than she had by the entertaining room.

There were shelves full of books and scrolls and a large desk. Maps and certificates hung in frames on the walls, denoting Sasuke's father's many accomplishments. This was another room that the children had not been allowed in, so Sasuke had no idea what kinds of books these were or what he would learn about his father when he started going through them.

"This is perfect for you," he nudged Megumi, "You'll never run out of reading material."

"Like my own library," she breathed, "Do you think there are any books on paper jutsus?"

"I have no idea," he admitted, "I really don't know anything about my father's hobbies."

"Oh," Megumi realized, "We should go greet them."

"And I'll show you the outside rooms," he nodded.

He led the way out onto the porch and pointed out the maintenance closet and various features of the landscaping. Finally they came around to the meeting room, where the doors were still wide open. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, but found the nerve to step into the room. He didn't feel nearly as frightened or ashamed as last time, but seeing this place again would still take some getting used to. Megumi hung back while he lit a new incense stick on the kitchen plate that rested over the blood stain. He lowered himself to his knees, then looked over at Megumi.

"Come with me," he requested, and she quickly knelt beside him.

They clapped their hands together, then bowed low.

"Father, mother," Sasuke began quietly, "You remember my friend, Megumi. I've invited her to live here and help me restore everything. Please watch over her and bring her good fortune as if she were part of the family." It was quiet for a few long seconds, then he turned his head, "Megumi, you can add something now, if you–"

He stopped short when he saw her eyes clenched shut and tears soaking into the bandages around them.

"I know I'm not an Uchiha," she forced the words out with a quivering voice, "And I don't belong here, but I hope I'll bring honor to your family by working hard on these grounds and helping Sasuke however I can. I have nowhere else to go. Please accept me."

A sharp sob signaled the end of her prayer and she brought her hands up to cover her face. Sasuke lifted one arm to put around her back. As much as distractions had cheered her up all day, family was still a very sore spot. He understood that feeling well.

"I know they accept you," he said quietly, "And you'll be like family now. You belong here, no matter what else has happened outside."

She nodded, "Thank you."

As they bowed there, bringing their situation before his parents, Sasuke wondered for the first time what they actually thought about it. He was more than confident in her loyalty as his partner and romantic companion, but to invite her into the family was quite presumptuous of him. The Uchihas were elite and she came from a line of civilians. Was he making a mistake by bringing her into his dangerous life? His hand that was rubbing her back slowed down. Would his parents really approve?

Suddenly a strong breeze blew in through the open doors and ripped along the walls, tearing off a banner dyed with the Uchiha emblem. It twirled around on the wind before falling across Megumi's back like a table cloth. She sat up in surprise and Sasuke grabbed the banner before it blew away again.

He smiled proudly, "Looks like my family has made their decision about you."

She let out a relieved laugh and wiped her eyes, "I'm glad."

"And if that's how they feel, then I think there's something else I can show you," he decided.

"What is it?" she said as they both stood up.

"We need you to be strong," he looked at the banner in his hands, "I need you to improve, if you're going to help me. The truth is you're not naturally very strong, but you can work on that."

She nodded, "I know I'll never be at your level, Sasuke. But that's why I was willing to try the high level jutsus that Mizuki was going to show me. I wish he had somehow gotten them to me in the end."

"As an adopted Uchiha, you have another option," he grew serious as he prepared to reveal a deep family secret, "There are many high-level jutsus exclusive to our clan that were never sealed in a forbidden scroll because we hid them away. I can show you where they are, and maybe you could study them with me."

Her eyes were wide, and it took her a moment to reply, "Learn the Uchiha jutsus? Oh, wow, I'd be honored. I mean, I don't know if I'll be able to, but you know I'll try my hardest."

"Maybe there's even a paper jutsu or two among them," he shrugged, "I've never taken the time to look through them, myself."

"It's definitely time that you did," she sighed, "We're gennin now."

Sasuke folded the banner and left it near the door, then led the way out onto the porch. It had grown very dark outside from the clouds and the wind was really picking up. Certainly it would start raining any minute, and he knew it was a long trek up the hill to the shrine where the secret meeting place was located.

"We'll need to run," he looked over his shoulder at Megumi as they crossed the living room towards the entryway.

"I don't mind," she nodded.

They left the front door open, and Sasuke set the pace as they ran through the streets to the outskirts of the estate, where they hopped a fence and jogged up an overgrown trail through the woods. Finally, at the top, the Naka shrine came into view. Like the rest of the buildings the Uchiha's used to maintain, this one was broken down and filthy now. Sasuke ignored the guilt and dashed inside just as the rain began to fall. Megumi was right behind him, but they both skidded to a stop in the pitch black room.

"This will be an important place to fix up too, I think," came her voice as he felt along the walls for a lamp.

"For the family's sake, yes," he finally found it and struck the flint to light the oil, "This was our shrine going back for generations. But we're here because it was also the secret meeting spot."

"What kind of secret meetings?" she was walking towards the middle of the room, now that there was some light.

"I don't know," Sasuke admitted, "I don't know who went or what they talked about. My father was probably there – he was always whispering about things with my brother. It was Itachi that told me about this place. He told me to come here and find the secret jutsus that I'd need in order to get stronger. In order to match him."

"We definitely need to find those, then," Megumi ran her finger over an old idol.

"I hate thinking about that night," Sasuke felt the urge to suppress the memories again, "I didn't want to hear anything he said to me. I can't remember half of it, since I've tried so hard to block it out. But I remember that the meeting room was hidden under one of the tatami mats here. On the right side, I think. The sixth one?"

Megumi joined him as they tapped their feet against the floor to find a hollow spot. Finally, one of the panels sent their taps echoing and they both squatted down and slid their fingers under the mat and lifted it up. There was a trap door with a ring for a handle. Sasuke grabbed the ring and heaved the door open. It must have triggered the underground lamps, because a moment later the hole began to light up, revealing a steep ladder down into the hidden room. Irrationally, Sasuke found himself glancing around the shrine to make sure nobody was spying before he hopped down through the door, ignoring the ladder and landing solidly on his feet. A couple seconds later, Megumi landed behind him and he felt her hand on his back.


	20. Chapter 20

"I've never been in a secret vault before," Megumi whispered, "Is it booby-trapped or anything?"

"No, we're fine," he finally walked forward toward the other end of the long room, "I've only been here once, and I didn't stay long. The jutsus I looked at back then seemed far too difficult. I don't remember why I gave up, but I know I promised myself I'd come back and look at them again after I was more experienced."

"Well, here we are," she sounded pretty confident.

They approached the obvious focal point of the chamber – a covered section of floor with two lamps illuminating a great stone centered against the wall. Above the stone was an ancient scroll hanging in a frame, and the surrounding walls were painted with the Uchiha symbol and a decorative fire design. As they stood in front of the stone and looked up at the scroll, Sasuke heard Megumi's breathing deepen in excitement.

He glanced at her, "This is written in a difficult older style. Can you read it?"

"Of course," she pointed to the strokes and ran her finger along the first line, "I love studying from old manuscripts. This one seems to be about the history of your clan. It looks very similar to a version I read in an old book, but not the version in our academy text."

"That's no surprise," he smirked, "Well, some of the things in here can only be read by someone with a sharingan. You'll have to help me transcribe those."

She looked up at him skeptically, "Is that a good idea? It's not like I'll need to read those. I'll never have the sharingan, so those are jutsus only you can do."

"It takes a lot of chakra to use the sharingan," he explained and ran his hand over the stone where one such inscription was carved, "I'd like to have a regular copy for myself to study at home."

"Of course," she pulled a parchment and writing supplies out of a pouch sewn to her pants, "Just read it out loud."

As Megumi leaned over to use the top of the stone as a writing surface, she tilted her head and made an intrigued sound.

"What is it?" he stood beside her to see what she was looking at.

"This stone," she rapped her knuckles against the top, "It's awfully thick to just be carved in front. I think it might be a container, and the front is the lid." She ran her finger along a barely visible crack in the stone, "Doesn't this look like a seam?"

Sasuke squatted down and examined the floor around the edges of the large artifact. Sure enough, there appeared to be wear around the front and especially out to the left side.

"It slides this way," he walked around to the right side and pressed his palms against the front edge.

With all his strength, he pushed against the stone, and the carved slab slowly began to scoot along. Megumi held out her hands in front of it in case it might fall, but the lid scraped steadily open to the left until half of the box was revealed and Sasuke stopped for a rest.

"It's stuffed full of scrolls and artifacts," Megumi said in awe, "These must be some of the hidden jutsus or more histories."

"Open one up," Sasuke finally said after she had been staring for too long, "What are you waiting for?"

"This is your family's secrets," she reached out hesitantly, "I feel like I shouldn't be touching anything."

"My family accepts you," he reminded her, and grabbed one of the scrolls himself, "And it's more efficient if you help me go through these. We both need to learn them."

"All right," she agreed and carefully took out one scroll, then sat down to read it.

The one Sasuke had picked was a record of some kind. It was boring and no longer relevant. No matter who everything belonged to before, it was all his now. Megumi seemed to be engrossed in her reading, though.

"What did you find?" he scooted next to her.

"Weapon jutsu," she tilted the page towards him, "Involving chakra manipulated wires. I certainly don't have enough control to do this one, but it might help you."

"Weapons will be useless against Itachi," Sasuke pulled down another scroll instead, "He's too good at them himself. I need something more advanced."

Together they went through several more scrolls until Megumi found one requesting that a jutsu called Izanagi be marked forbidden.

"Wow, Sasuke, this one is very old," she shook her head, "And the jutsu must have been extremely dangerous. I've never heard of it before."

"Read it," he ordered, "this could be just what I need."

The writing was in an ancient style and her reading was slow, "'The power of Izanagi cannot be wielded without grave consequence. The old master calls it a risk, but I call it a curse. Time after time, our best warriors have been stricken blind after using this jutsu. After training so hard all their lives, they are now useless. There is no way around this cost. Without fail, every person who calls forth Izanagi will lose his eyes."

Megumi looked up at Sasuke with pale skin, where it was showing, and a stiff frown.

"Does it say what abilities Izanagi gives the user before blinding them?" Sasuke decided it would make a good last resort if he ran out of other options while fighting Itachi.

Her eyes flickered with an internal argument before lowering back down to the page, "It says: 'While Izanagi grants the ability to remove the boundaries between reality and illusion within the user's personal space, thereby rendering all attacks ineffective, trials have proven that the reality of stresses upon the eye cannot be changed. Death itself may be turned into an illusion by Izanagi, but blindness is inescapable. The darkness appears to fall after one has used the jutsu for 30 to 40 seconds. The curse is swifter for those who are younger or weaker. In conclusion, I have determined that the power if Izanagi is far too great and the consequences too costly, and request that Izanagi be labeled a kinjutsu henceforth.'"

It was quiet for a moment as Sasuke weighed the evidence. Izanagi, if he could master it, would be the ultimate trump card. Itachi would never use it – he was too vain to risk his sight – and he probably wouldn't expect Sasuke to be able to use it either. If it came to that, he would only have a few seconds to use it to completely defeat his brother, because if Sasuke went blind without killing Itachi, then there was no way he would come out alive.

"It's unbelievable that a person could really do that," Megumi finally said, "To alter illusion and reality in order to make yourself invincible for a limited time. That kind of power…" she shook her head, "But really, it sounds more useful for defense or evasion, not striking. I don't think it would be worth it unless you were caught in an attack that was impossible to escape and was about to kill you."

"Are you sure you're not just afraid?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not afraid of anything anymore," she answered seriously, then rolled her eyes, "Besides I wouldn't be using Izanagi. I don't have the sharingan. I'm more worried about having to take care of you for the rest of my life if you go blind trying to use it yourself."

She would do that? Sasuke found comfort in this thought, and was more determined than ever to learn how to do this jutsu.

"I do see your point," he reached for the next scroll, "Let's try to find something we can use against an enemy, but keep the Izanagi text out as well."

She nodded and set the rolled up scroll beside her, then pulled out a book to get started on.

_Hours later._

Megumi finished reading the last scroll and closed it up, setting it decisively on top of a small pile next to her legs, "I think I could do that one."

Sasuke looked down uncomfortably, "That whole part about burning from the inside out doesn't worry you?"

"It's a risk," she pointed at the larger pile of writings that rested near him, "The jutsus you're going to try have far worse side effects: bleeding eyes from Amaterasu, the immense chakra drain of Tsukuyomi…"

"But I have to learn these kind of jutsus, and you know it."

"Hey, you're the one who said I need to get stronger," she leaned towards him, "Why worry about me now?"

"I didn't realize how dangerous these were, just to learn," he admitted, then reached up and poked her bandaged cheek, causing her to wince, "And I'm worried now, because I'm starting to realize how much I don't like seeing you in bandages. These sharingan jutsus we found are terrifyingly powerful. If I can learn these, then I can protect you. You won't need to risk anything just to be stronger."

"This isn't about us, though," she pointed to her forehead protector, "I'm a shinobi now too, and you know there's no way they'll put us on the same team tomorrow. We'll be on separate missions for a long time, and how will you protect me, then? I _do_ need to be stronger."

"Not this strong," he shook his head, "After all we've read, doesn't it scare you? I've seen you more nervous while studying a textbook."

Something changed on her face and he wondered if he had really offended her, "I didn't even know how serious a shinobi's life was back then. I was scared to mess up in front of the class," she let out a chuckle of disbelief, "It seems so stupid now. I don't care what happens to me anymore, if I mess up or get hurt, there's no going back."

"You should care – I care," he tensed, "You don't have to get hurt. You won't have to keep up with me if I learn these. There's no reason for you to learn those jutsus."

"There's no reason for me not to," she replied firmly, "Sasuke, from the time we first met, we've had a hard time understanding each other; but now we're more the same than ever, so I know you'll understand. I don't want you to get hurt either, but I acknowledge that you're an avenger, so you have to risk everything. And that wasn't your choice – it was thrust upon you unfairly, yet you stepped up and embraced your fate. But my fate wasn't thrust upon me," she touched her bandages, "I did this to myself. It's my own fault that I lost my family, my comforts, and all other options that were open to me before. I have a _responsibility_ to embrace my fate."

"What fate is that?" his chest tightened as he saw her struggling to push down her pain again.

"To put all I have into training and missions," she said through clenched teeth, "To fight like I have nothing to lose, because I don't. I've given up everything I ever had to become a shinobi, and I'll keep risking everything - that will be my way of the ninja. I'm not afraid of anything anymore."

Sasuke couldn't tell if he was hurting for her or remembering how much he had hurt when the same realization had struck him years ago. To feel alone in the world was a terrible burden, until you turned it into reckless strength – the kind that only someone with nothing left to lose could achieve.

"I understand," he said quietly.

She turned away and began thumbing through the book she had previously set down. Her motions were rigid, like she was still upset.

"I take it all back," he tried again, "I'm not going to discourage you from doing anything dangerous. I know how you feel."

"Not really," she shook her head and wouldn't look at him, "You have your vengeance to drive you on, your clan to restore. You have an estate to your name and me at your mercy. I…I really have nothing besides ninjutsu, and I'm not even good at that yet. You got this way because of your brother, and you have a chance to set that right by defeating him. Until then, hate and justice will give you strength. I can only blame myself, and I can only hate myself. I'll never have justice, only guilt."

She dropped the book and buried her face in her hands. Her arms were tensed tightly as she physically fought back the need the break down again. Sasuke stared in shock. All this time he had felt sorry for himself, and Megumi had opened his eyes to how much he truly had to live for. He had no way of doing the same for her.

"Tomorrow you'll have a team," he grabbed her wrist, "And soon you'll have missions. Maybe you don't have a long-term goal like I do, but you can have small successes one at a time. Cling to your way of the ninja and use it to reach whatever difficult goals you set for yourself. You already did that at the academy, you can do that now."

"I will," she let him pull her hand away, "I'll find something. I'll risk everything for it – the way you do for your revenge."

Sasuke squeezed her hand, "You'll find something."

"And I'll risk everything," she repeated, looking down at the scrolls, "I don't care if these jutsus kill me, just like you with yours."

He looked down at their hands and felt guilty and embarrassed as he admitted, "Well, that's not completely true, Megumi. I used to think that way. I assumed I would kill Itachi or die trying, but I want to live now. That's why I need these jutsus – to survive the fight."

"For your family?" she looked up at the scroll on the wall.

"And for you," he felt like he was going to blush, "I want to be around for you when this terrible part of my life is finally out of the way. So that's another thing you still have: me."

She stared at him for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up and she did as he expected and lunged forward to wrap him in a hug, "I know what my goal is now! I found something to work towards and risk everything for! I want to help you find and defeat Itachi, so that you can start your new life."

He hugged her even tighter out of a feeling of protectiveness, "You can't come with me. You're no match for him."

"I know, but I'll help you train here," she rambled excitedly, "and I'll study all the jutsus for you, so that you do them right. If I get stronger then maybe I can help more. That's my goal now."

"All right," he smiled against her hair, "You can help me. My goal will be your goal."

"Perfect," she let go of him abruptly and sat up onto her knees to grab her paper and ink from the top of the stone, "The sooner we get all the useful jutsus, the sooner we can start working on them. Read me the ones that are written for the sharingan."

"Right," Sasuke crawled around behind Megumi to sit in front of the carved stone lid, "This tablet has all the bloodline secrets and can only be read by the sharingan. The instructions to all these jutsus should be here."

"Incredible," she squinted at it and even leaned over to touch some of the symbols, "I can't decipher it at all."

"You ready?" he looked at her to see that she had all the writing supplies laid out on the floor in front of her.

She bent down, poised to begin writing, "Go for it."

Taking a steady breath, Sasuke gathered his energy and forced it into his eyes. He saw Megumi lift her head before he was even looking at her to gauge her reaction. Her movements seemed slow as he watched her, waiting for her eyes to meet his, though it was only taking her a fraction of a second to do so. Everything was processed differently through the sharingan and Sasuke hadn't used it enough to be unaffected – it still made him dizzy. Finally, she was looking right at him and he registered the surprise in her eyes. As she spoke, he read her lips before the words had even reached him.

"That's incredible," she said, "I can feel your chakra so clearly now. You increased your power exponentially."

He nodded.

"You could use genjutsu," she started, then automatically looked away.

"I've never used sharingan-level genjutsu on a person," he responded quickly, and felt anger bubbling up, "That's a despicable thing to do to someone you know," he registered an uncomfortable shift in her body language in response to his anger, and he immediately softened his tone, "And I would definitely never use it on you."

She remained a little tense, but put on a smile and looked him in the eye again, "I know you wouldn't."

He admired her trust in him, after all that she'd just read regarding the powers of the sharingan; but even now she couldn't imagine the horror of having it used upon her. Sasuke remembered all too vividly the nightmare Itachi had trapped him in that night in the meeting room. He'd faced and overcome every memory now except that genjutsu. It filled him with anger as he thought about his own brother using it against him to scar him rather than killing him. It was all he could do to keep the exact images out of his head at the moment. Soon he would wield the same power, but he swore he would not misuse it.

He heard Megumi move and prepare to speak, then he felt her hand grip his and her voice reached him, "Sasuke? Are you okay? Does it hurt to use the sharingan."

He might as well tell her, "No, it…feels good. Just more bad memories. That night, I didn't witness my family being killed, I came home after it happened. Itachi was waiting for me, and he used a powerful genjutsu on me. I had to watch every person die, just as it had happened, right it front of me. There was nothing I could do. Itachi had somehow unlocked the Mangekyou sharingan."

Her uncomfortable hesitation seemed to last even longer in his hyperaware state, but finally she squeezed his hand and softly responded, "I'm sorry. You'll set it right, though, Sasuke."

"I need the Mangekyou sharingan to do the jutsus we read about today," he closed his hand around her fingers to keep them there, "I need that terrible power too."

"It's not Itachi's jutsu," she said, "It's the Uchiha's, and you are their avenger. Yours will be more powerful."

He glanced at her quickly, still nervous about his eyes when he was this angry, but he wanted to see her face. Her round green eyes were so different from his family's, but she meant just as much to him now as they ever did and her reassuring gaze had the same effect. The sight of her face relaxed him and scattered any remnants of the genjustu had had been creeping back into his mind. He let one corner of his mouth tilt up into a smile.

"I'm confident too," he looked back at the carving and narrowed his eyes, "This should tell me how to unlock the Mangekyou sharingan."

Still holding his hand with her left, she used her right hand to dip the brush in ink and held it over the parchment, "I'm ready. Just start reading it."

It took a second for Sasuke to focus his eyes in a way that cut through the illusion in the symbols, and finally he saw the words clearly, "'To those who have suffered the greatest, will the greatest of secrets be revealed. Through stress and suffering you have opened your sharingan eye and seek the path to greater power as many Uchihas before you. Herein lies such a path to power and it is paved with agony.'"

He paused and felt Megumi's thumb run across his knuckles soothingly, "It can't be any worse than what you've already gone through."

Sasuke nodded, and began scanning the encrypted text as best as he could without losing focus, "It's describing some sharingan jutsus below that. I want to find the way to unlock the Mangekyou, though. Itachi said I had to have that to defeat him. I remember that now."

"Then it's an important one to get started on," she agreed.

"Here," Sasuke spotted the words at last and focused through the illusion, reading slowly so Megumi could keep up while writing, "'The power of Mangekyou is immensely greater than the sharingan alone, and so too must be the pain which unlocks it. Death is the only way," he paused, feeling that memories were trying to come back, but he was not in the habit of letting them.

"Death?" Megumi repeated uneasily and he could feel her heartbeat quicken.

"'The death of the one you hold closest,'" his throat went dry, "'You must feel their death with your own hands.'"

The memories crashed in anyway. Itachi had told him this before, but Sasuke didn't want to hear it, believe it, or remember it. He had blocked the very idea of such a thing until now, but here was the proof. Here were the words, carved clearly in stone as they had been for generations.

He took several long seconds before he could read the next part, "'You must kill your closest friend.'"

Megumi's hand was cold and everything in the room was still and hollow to Sasuke's senses. She was no longer writing down the words, and he no longer remembered that he wanted her to. His gut was clenched so tight and mind numb with disbelief. He didn't want to move, but he wanted the reassurance of her eyes again, so he slowly turned his head. For the moment that their eyes met, he registered the fear and pain in hers, but then she quickly looked away. She was holding her breath, tensed in anticipation, not defense. She was ready for him to do it.

"Megumi," his voice barely came out, "I'm not going to hurt you."

She clenched her eyes shut and said through gritted teeth, "Yes, you are."

He could do it. Nobody would miss her, and she had already told him she had nothing left to lose. It would be easy – she wouldn't put up a fight. This was the secret to the Mangekyou sharingan, and he would need to do it sooner or later. If he wanted to defeat Itachi, he had no choice.

Her hand was trembling in his, and he looked down at it. In the back of his mind that old haunting laughter began to resurface.

No. Not her.

In an instant, the panic hit him again like it hadn't in months and Sasuke dropped her hand and leapt back several feet. The world dulled and slowed as, in his confusion, he lost hold of his sharingan. Megumi didn't flinch, and was still sitting rigidly in front of the tablet with her head lowered and eyes clenched shut. How could he have even entertained the thought of hurting her? After all they'd shared and promised to share. After everything else that had happened to her, he was going to stab her in the back as well. But she was right – he was going to hurt her after all. There was no other way to keep her safe.

He didn't move from where he was now standing – he would never again venture closer to her than this – and it took him a few deep breaths before he could steady his thoughts and find the words.

"We can't be friends anymore," he said painfully, "If we never see each other again, then you'll be safe." She crumpled over to bury her face into her knees, and he turned towards the back of the room instead, "You'll still be taken care of, as we planned. Stay at the estate and work on whatever you want. I'll leave you money as payment, but I won't be by to help or visit. Don't try to visit me, and don't try to contact me in any other way. It'll be safer for you like this."

He didn't know what else to say, and as soon as the sound of her sobs reached him, he knew he had to leave. He leapt through the hatch into the main shrine and ran for the open door. It was dark and raining hard outside, but he didn't slow. With the rain drops slapping against his face like so many needles he ran as fast as he could down the hill and through a shortcut in the woods that would take him back to the main road, bypassing the estate altogether.

The pain in his head and chest was agonizing; he couldn't imagine feeling worse if he had actually killed her. But in order to get the Mangekyou, he would need to go through even worse. He shook his head violently, sending hot tears and cold raindrops flying. This was all Itachi's fault. Sasuke's life was constant torture because of him. For a brief while, he thought he had found something else, something that made him happy, but in the end Itachi's plan ruined that too. He could barely contain the hate that was boiling in him again.

As fast as he was running, it wasn't long before Sasuke was stumbling through his own front door, dripping wet and throbbing with a headache. His jaw hurt from clenching it so tightly in frustration. But he couldn't think clearly enough to treat any of these problems, and simply wandered into his bedroom where he collapsed onto his bed. It was a few more moments before he could force himself to close his eyes, and not long after that the nightmares resurfaced.


	21. Chapter 21

_The next morning._

The night storm had cleared the way for a beautiful sky on Sasuke's orientation day, but he hardly took notice on the way to the academy. It was still a bit windy, and he took a little pleasure from stepping on every crunchy leaf that blew into his path. He had gotten almost no sleep during the night, and didn't feel like moving when his alarm finally reminded him to get up. But he knew that this was the day that he would meet his jounin master and his real training would begin. From here on out, he only had one motivation, and that was to grow strong enough to face Itachi as soon as possible. With this in his mind, he had forced himself to get ready that morning and walk to the academy. He passed his old lunch building, and pushed down the memories of it.

In the classroom, everyone was bustling with excitement. Out of habit, before he could stop himself, he glanced toward Megumi's usual seat. She was there – forehead protector, face bandages, and all. He was relieved to know that she was safe and had focused herself enough to make it here, but she looked just as tired and nauseous as he felt. People were calling out greetings to him, which he ignored, but even with his presence announced now, she didn't turn to look. So she was going to follow his rules. Good.

He walked to the opposite side of the classroom from her and took a seat against the wall. It wasn't where he normally sat, and he folded his hands in front of his chin, peering over them to observe the kids around him. Moriki, the boy he had fought in the final exam, was sitting in front of him, cheerfully talking to his neighbor. Naruto took the seat at the other end of Sasuke's table and immediately starting showing off his forehead protector to some other classmates. So the lazy goof-off had graduated after all, somehow. The academy's standards must have slacked even more. Nobody was taking this seriously at all, and their enthusiasm was really starting to annoy him. Simple, naïve children like them just got on his nerves, and he had to fix his glare on a neutral spot on the blackboard to keep from losing his patience.

Eventually a commotion caught Sasuke's eye as Naruto was bounced out of the way and Sakura appeared next to him.

"Sasuke-kun," she said in the tone that made him cringe internally, "Can I sit next to you?"

He simply glared at her, but she sat down anyway; so he looked to the front of the room again, intent on ignoring her. This was not a good day for dealing with female antics. But it wasn't Sakura, or any other girl, who made the boldest move.

Suddenly, Naruto hopped up onto the table and squatted in front of Sasuke, glaring at him eye to eye. What had gotten into this idiot? Using the last shred of self-control he had left, Sasuke held his ground and glared right back, hoping to convey enough annoyance to scare the blonde kid off; but Naruto didn't seem intimidated in the least. He leaned even closer, giving off an impressive air of annoyance, himself. Sasuke was a moment away from really losing his temper, when Naruto abruptly lurched forward and knocked right into his face. The blow was only cushioned by their lips catching on one another. This position caught Sasuke so off-guard that he forgot he was angry and, for a moment, even forgot what to do. Then, at the same time, both boys wrenched away and began spitting and wiping at their mouths.

Sasuke faced the wall as he rubbed his face and tried to regain his composure, but he could hear the beating Naruto was taking beside him. Several girls were yelling at Naruto in unison, and he heard repeated protests about his "first kiss." Of course, Sasuke's first kiss was two days ago, but he refused to think about that again; and now his most recent kiss was something he'd have to force out of his mind as well.

But what about Megumi? Had she seen what just happened? Sasuke wasn't sure why it worried him that she might have, but he wanted to make sure anyway. He turned back towards the front of the room, fingers folded protectively in front of his mouth, and flicked his eyes towards the opposite side of the room. She was still sitting in the same position as before, as solemnly as ever, looking down at a book in her lap. Sasuke had to look away quickly. This was a familiar habit, and he couldn't let himself fall back into it. He had to stop seeking her out and looking for her reactions. He had to stop thinking about her all together. As soon as he knew for sure that they were on different teams, he could stop worrying. She would have new friends, a new mentor, and plenty of distractions. It would be easy for him to slip into the estate to leave her a salary without actually running into her, and their friendship would fade away until there was no way he would ever need to hurt her.

"Welcome, students," Iruka-sensei greeted loudly, startling Sasuke out of his deep thoughts, "Beginning today, all of you are real shinobi, but you are still merely gennin. The hard part has just begun. You will soon be assigned duties by the village, so today we will be creating three-man teams, and each team will have a jounin sensei. You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete the assigned duties."

Sasuke resisted the urge to sigh. Everyone should know this already, so just get on with it! He was already annoyed enough trying to imagine how he'd get any training done with two other people in his way.

Iruka-sensei pulled out a clipboard, "We tried to balance each team's strength."

"What?!" most of the class cried, except Sasuke and, he noticed, Megumi.

Normally she would have tried to play along like she hadn't already studied the way things were done. Sasuke made himself look away from her again and focused on the teacher. He just wanted to hear the teams now and be done with it.

Iruka-sensei started listing the teams, and got through a few before Sasuke heard one of the names he'd been waiting for, "Team Five: Iashi Moriki, Nishiku Megumi, and Fuuma Otomaru."

So that was it. He couldn't help looking at her one more time and this time she was looking up at him. They exchanged goodbyes with their eyes, then they both turned away. Sasuke's name was called soon after, for team seven. And that was it.


	22. A word from the Author

Hey, all! EggsandLambs here. I want to thank anyone who made it all the way through my story, and give you a little insight. I based my story off what I know from the manga, not the anime, so if there are inconsistencies with the Naruto anime storyline, that's why. I also tried to work everything in so that it could blend seamlessly right into the manga without contradicting anything.

I do plan to write a sequel, but following Megumi's struggles, since we already know what Sasuke does from this point on. It will follow right along with the story set down by the manga, and will offer a different point of view of the events that take place, and give a bigger part to some peripheral characters we see only briefly in the manga. What kinds of bonds does Megumi form with her new team mates and master? What does she do when she hears about Sasuke's sacrifice in the battle with Haku? What secrets does she uncover about the Uchiha clan as she cleans up the estate? Why does Team Five not attend the chuunin exams? What happens when Itachi shows up at what he thought would still be his abandoned home? What was it that pushed Sasuke into finally deciding to leave the village and seek out Orochimaru? And what will Megumi do when she finds out he's disappeared for good?

Also, if you want to know what Megumi looks like, I would be happy to send you a link to my concept sketches. Somehow it seems I cannot post the address here, but just send me a message.


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